The Time to Automate Is Now, and Hybrid Mode Can Help, Notes Crown Equipment

As a major provider of new, used, and reconditioned forklifts, Crown Equipment Corp. is a leading material handling provider. The New Bremen, Ohio-based company is also a proponent of automation -- when it makes sense.

"For instance, load is a big variable," said Jim Gaskell, director of global automation and emerging technologies at Crown Equipment. He sat down with Robotics 24/7 at ProMat to talk about how end users should approach robotics for materials handling.

"Depending on the load, a warehouse may want to go with reach trucks, AGVs, or tenders," Gaskell noted.

Crown determined to demystify robotics

Estimates of how many North American warehouses use robots and automation vary from 15% to 25%. Why hasn't the technology spread more yet? One answer is that operators are uncertain about how to begin and are concerned about the risks.

James Gaskell, Crown Equipment

Crown Equipment is on a mission to "demystify" the process of evaluating, selecting, and deploying robots, explained Gaskell. His company, which has more than 18,000 employees and regional headquarters in Australia, China, Germany, and Singapore, also offers automation and fleet management systems in addition to forklifts.

"Crown recently put out an e-book titled The Time to Automate Is Now: Overcoming the Hurdle of Getting Started," Gaskell said. "It's important to understand what benefits you're looking for, what tasks you want to automate, and how you currently use your forklift fleet."

"Taking shortcuts can be costly in the end," he noted. "If only one part of a product flow is made more efficient, stuff can stack up in a space."

Reference customers show the way

DHL deployed a fleet of nine Crown pallet trucks in one-way aisles between double-deep storage, recalled Gaskell.

"The vehicle scans the pallet, and the WMS [warehouse management system] buffers the data," he said. "The robot tender knows what's going on quickly."

The automated fork truck can lift and load faster than a manually operated one, and a remote operator can see through its camera," Gaskell added. "That way, it doesn't have to be perfect."

Semi-autonomous or hybrid operations make remote interventions easier, he said. It also gives large customers such as UPS more confidence in adopting automated package carts, according to Gaskell.

Safety is another major consideration for forklift users, according to Crown Equipment. Last week, the company published an e-book on An Integrated Approach to Forklift Safety.