Reading, UK: Anecdotal evidence suggests that manufacturers are embrace automated handling and storage technology more willingly than businesses operating in other industry sectors, Toyota Materials Handling says.
“Historically, investing in automated storage and materials handling required something of a leap of faith – and a large budget. This was thanks in part to the fact that installing the technology usually meant that the entire warehouse process had to be automated.
“But that is no longer the case. With product developments leading to the emergence of increasingly flexible and scalable solutions, it is possible to automate only those aspects of the warehouse or factory’s handling and storage process that have most to gain from moving away from manual handling methods,” Toyota says.
This has opened the possibility of introducing automated handling technology for many companies for whom such advanced solutions would previously have been financially out of reach. For example, many SME manufacturing firms are opting to introduce automated guided vehicles as a means of mitigating the impact of the nationwide shortage of skilled forklift operators on their business.
Automated guided vehicles – such as Toyota’s Autopilot series – offer several benefits in addition to delivering lower labour costs, including reductions in inventory and building infrastructure damage as well as increased productivity. These notable advantages bring a rapid return on investment, Toyota says.
And yet, despite its myriad benefits, automation is not the answer for everyone. Each manufacturer’s intralogistics flow is different and what works for one business may not be appropriate for another.
So, is automation suitable for your operation? As a starting point, consider the following questions in relation to your site:
- Are warehouse-driven delays a common issue?
- Do everyday workflows include a vast amount of manual, repetitive tasks?
- Is output directly affected by limitations within the workforce?
- Are inventory counts regularly affected by inaccuracies?
If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions your business will almost certainly benefit from the operational gains that today’s highly cost-efficient automated systems offer. So, if automated storage and handling solutions aren’t already on your radar it’s about time they were!
