The IT industry has eliminated the problems of machine communication with the development of factory floor networking techniques such as Modbus, Fieldbus and Ethernet to drive MRP efficiency. Nowadays, any piece of automation can talk to any other and the company’s computer management systems to streamline operations.
John Harper, sales manager of logistics solutions supplier Dematic, says Laser Guided trucks are an ideal choice with technological capabilities because they will do the mundane jobs all day long without a driver which saves time and money.
Today’s Laser trucks are standard lift trucks or pallet trucks with laser guidance added. They can still be driven as manual trucks but have a pole on top with a laser on it that spins to detect reflective strips stuck around the warehouse.
It’s an easy decision to use laser trucks, especially if you are running three shifts. You can save three drivers for every truck you have and you are working at a higher efficiency, Harper says.
Fork truck manufacturer Jungheinrich sees a bright future for laser-guided trucks in the food industry as well. It was popular in the mid 1980s but then they had mixed reviews.
Now Jungheinrich has revamped its Automated Pallet Mover system and the software platform is very stable, says Steve Richmond, general manager of Jungheinrich UK.
Richmond says the equipment uses laser guidance rather than having wires buried in the floor so if you change your plant, equipment or your route, you can now easily program in the new route as well. Costs have come down as well.
According to Richmond, it’s the software behind materials handling systems (MRP) that’s becoming increasing important in the food manufacturing industry.
Jungheinrich decided to launch its own warehouse management system due to this result. Rather than be reliant on a third-party software company, they decided to develop their own. They combined their 50 years of knowledge of what people want in terms of processing material flow and then developed the solution upwards to contain the information flow around the MRP system.