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Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have long been revered for the efficiencies they create in the manufacturing operations realm. However, now more than ever, the advantages are becoming more evident (and even essential) in the wake of the pandemic.
Experts note that the interest and adoption of AGVs rapidly is accelerating in the face of a diminished labor pool and the fact that robotic lift trucks are designed to handle repetitive tasks while allowing labor to be redeployed to more value-added tasks.
The use of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), or robotic lift trucks, is expanding as the industry finds ways to transition simple, repeatable tasks to guided or autonomous vehicles, experts say.
Although automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and automated guided carts (AGCs) have been in the market for more than 40 years, a renewed interest has emerged in “true robotic systems” that consistently and predictably transport loads of materials to places that might otherwise be serviced by manually driven forklift trucks, conveyors or manual cart transport, experts say.
“Interest is soaring,” says Laura McConney, marketing coordinator at JBT Corp., Chalfont, Pa. “Customers no longer wonder whether they should install AGVs. They know they need them and just want to develop the best implementation plan. Customers are well beyond considering beta site testing and have moved onto enterprise-wide deployments.
At the end of April, MarketsandMarkets published a report titled “Automated Guided Vehicle Market by Type (Unity Load Carrier, Tow Vehicle, Pallet Truck, Assembly Line Vehicle), Industry Verticle (Automotive and others), Application (Transportation, Distribution and others), and Geography — Global Forecast to 2020,” which stated the automated guided vehicle (AGV) market is expected to reach $2.2 million by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9.8 percent between 2014 and 2020.
A facility that contains packaged product, equipment and people has been called many things; however, that big “barn” generally is referred to as a warehouse. These facilities also will vary in size, layout and capabilities.
Last year was a record year for automated guided vehicles (AGVs), with AGV system sales reaching $140 million, according to the Material Handling Institute (MHI).