Material handling is essential to any warehouse sales or production chain. However, it also causes downtime, inefficient use of time and frequent staff fluctuation. How to overcome these challenges? The technology of autonomous robots, capable of transporting goods without assistance or lengthy training, brings an innovative solution to the operation.

Rapid developments in recent years have made autonomous robots considerably more affordable for transporting materials and goods, allowing warehouses, distribution centres and factories to deploy them at a reasonable cost. Currently, the market offers a wide range of robots, from smaller units suitable for transporting loads up to 100 kg, to large machines designed for autonomous transport of pallets with a maximum weight of one to 1.5 tonnes. Some robots can also independently pick up crates from a roller track, transfer them and automatically hand them over.

Robots can effectively replace the work of warehouse operators on longer routes, in particular, allowing them to devote their time to more important tasks with greater added value. In this respect, robots offer the advantage of working almost around the clock without breaks, training, holidays or sick leave. Using sensors, they can map the space themselves and always choose the most suitable route, so there is no need to use navigation lines. In addition, current software allows them to perceive their surroundings using sensors that measure the distance to obstacles; moreover, they can detect them visually. The robot detects moving obstacles, evaluates their direction and determines if there is enough space left to possibly go around them.

Thus, autonomous robots add not only a significantly more efficient use of time to the operation but also increased safety of movement in the warehouse or a reduction in operating costs for forklifts that are no longer required to go to the receiving area to pick up a pallet and only move in their aisles.

The main advantages of autonomous robots

Very fast charging,
Consumption of only 20% of electricity compared to a forklift,
Wide range of movements for efficient pallet picking and moving,
Smart obstacle detection for safe movement iaround people,
Possibility to work without connection to a WMS; individual tasks can be entered by the user,
Clear statistics on movement and productivity for further process improvement.

Implementing autonomous robots into operations is easy and fast; it usually takes just a few weeks, including operator training and workflow setup. The actual mapping of the premises takes about 1-2 days. Some types of robots can even be rented for pilot operation. If you want to use robots in your operation, we can visit you and help you choose the appropriate processes where they will have the greatest impact on work efficiency.