Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) have historically been extremely hard to justify for everyday distribution applications. They are burdened by the high cost of a custom engineered vehicle and the fear of supporting a one of a kind piece of equipment. Kollmorgen has recently come up with an impressive solution to this problem…

It bothers me that the main justification for replacing human labor with robots is the cost of human labor. At least, it used to bother me. For a 3 shift operation that runs 7 days a week there are typically 4 people employed. At a $40K/year cost per employee that’s $160K that can be saved by a client that replaces this function in their operation with a robot. If the robot installation costs $160K it only takes one year to break even…

One of the best ways to get the most out of your lift tables, tilters, & rotators is to regularly perform a preventative maintenance check of the following parts of the equipment;

Steve Elsbury is the Director of Information Technology for Prime Distribution Services, located in Plainfield, Indiana. Steve recently took the time to speak about the system that Bastian Material Handling and ASAP Automation implemented at their new 1.2 million sq. ft. facility, and how it has helped them to become even more competitive in their market.

Click on the title above to read more about PDS, and watch the video.

Cleveland Clinic was recently featured on the Greta Van Susteren show on Fox News, “On the Record.” The last minute and a half of the piece looks at the Cleveland Clinic system, specifically the AGV’s they are using. It was an interesting look at Cleveland Clinic’s healthcare model and the keys to their success.

Click on the title above to read more and see the video…

Please take a moment to read this excellent article in the latest issue of LOG.india featuring SPS Chauhan and ASAP India, entitled, “Automation [un]Limited.” The article discusses how AS/RS as an alternative storage solution is gaining acceptance among Indian companies.

LOG.india is India’s premier publication for the logistics and supply chain industry.

In a down economy, businesses start to maintain their conveyors instead of replacing them. As the economy starts to squeeze the wallet, new conveyor sales start to fall but spare parts sales, according to Bob Trebilcock from Modern Material Handling magazine, could potentially increase 25% this year…

What if you don’t know what the heck this grease-covered thing is that is sitting on your desk with a note that just says, “We need one of these”? “Geez thanks, I will get right on it!”, is what I would be thinking. Well to help you get what you need, here are a few things that would be good to have when you contact Hytrol or Bastian.

Is your product easily conveyed?
In general there is a type of conveyor for just about all types of products, whether it is bags, boxes, crates or pallets, but there are some limitations. More information…
Do you have a similar sized product mix?
Conveyors must be sized to fit the largest of your products and therefore work best when there is a commonly sized product being conveyed.
Are your throughput expectations reasonable for a conveyor application? In general conveyors run at about 65 feet per minute, with an average speed range of 17-135 FPM. Some conveyors can reach speeds of 300-600 FPM…

Lean manufacturing has created a lot of buzz in the past two decades in the manufacturing world. Once only a technique for the automotive industry, starting with Henry Ford himself, lean manufacturing has now come to the material handling world, particularly Just In Time (JIT). The Hytrol Conveyor Company…