Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) - Conveyco

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) can be an intelligent addition to your warehouse or order fulfillment operation&automation strategy. Years ago, the only way to transport materials, parts, or inventory within a facility was manually. Personnel was hired specifically to transport material from point A to point B using either carts or forklifts. At the time, this was a necessary expense, because there simply weren’t many feasible alternatives. Of course there have been conveyor systems. Conveyors can be incredibly efficient in transporting inventory. The issue with conveyors is lack of flexibility, as they cut off the flow of a facility. Additionally, conveyors can be costly in terms of both initial purchase price as well as maintenance. In the right application it’s perfect, but for many other applications and situations not desirable. The next real advancement in terms of intra-warehouse or intra-operation transportation came with the development of automated guided vehicles (AGVs)—unmanned vehicles capable of traveling within a facility using a series of cameras, sensors, and magnetic strips or rails. AGVs promised to reduce labor costs by automating the repetitive and low-skill task of transportation.