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Day: 10 March 2022

STILL establishes own 5G network

Posted on by David Priestman

In order to participate in various research projects, develop innovative products and implement a smart factory, the intralogistics provider STILL has now set up its own 5G network at its Hamburg headquarters.

Already today, we see largely autonomous transport vehicles in production halls and warehouses. However, their capabilities still remain inferior to those of humans, as many processes still need to be learned and are not intelligent in every respect. Therefore, many suppliers are striving to fill this gap and make vehicles even more intelligent.

This broader vision of autonomously driving transport vehicles, however, can only be realised with very powerful mobile networks in order to move large amounts of data safely, promptly and efficiently. For this reason, STILL, which has always been very intensively involved in the development of innovative logistics and production solutions, has now installed its own 5G-SA campus network at its corporate headquarters in Hamburg.

“This 5G network, with which we are once again underlining our innovativeness, as 5G is not yet widespread in industry today, will on the one hand help us to take autonomously running logistics processes to a new level for our customers,” says Ansgar Bergmann, STILL expert for data and networking, describing the most important reasons for installing the company’s own 5G network.

“To this end, we have already been participating in numerous international research projects for many years that explore the idea of Industry 4.0. On the other hand, we will optimise our production with super-fast data transmission technology. In future, wireless production robots and people will be able to work together smoothly there in the sense of the ‘smart factory’ thanks to fast wireless communication.”

Innumerable technological approaches

Particularly interesting, according to Bergmann, are the performance and reliability aspects of 5G, as it is a licensed frequency spectrum for the user. “These are interesting, for example, in indoor logistics when integrating driverless transport systems. The operator is thus better supported than was previously possible with WLAN. Entire AGV fleets can be coordinated in real time and the control and route data can be managed in an edge cloud of the company,” says the expert.

Further possible applications include robotics, collaboration between humans and machines, and imaging processes for environment recognition.

Numerous new scenarios

Industry 4.0 approaches are also noticeably boosted by 5G technology. This optimises the step from classic to fully automated systems because Industry 4.0 is primarily based on data technology processes, and it is precisely these that are supported by 5G. All systems and products in the field of automation, process transparency, pay per use, predictive maintenance or consulting will be further advanced by 5G.

New visions, especially those based on machine learning, for which this data transfer boost is targeted, will soon be implemented by STILL in real existing technology. To this end, the company is involved in numerous international research projects, such as the ARIBIC project. The aim is to make better use of the data that automated guided vehicles (AGVs) collect via their sensors and cameras during their journeys through the warehouse. For example, digital twins of the environment are created that process relevant information in real time.

“These processes generate enormous amounts of data that must be transmitted at a very high speed. Without our new 5G data network, some approaches are not even possible. The previous technologies are usually quite susceptible to interference, which makes our work more difficult,” says Bergmann.

New CampusOS flagship project

Only a few weeks ago, at the beginning of 2022, the CampusOS lighthouse project was launched, which will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology with €18.1m over the next three years. Its goal is to build a modular ecosystem for open 5G campus networks based on open radio technologies and interoperable network components. It is intended to help strengthen the digital sovereignty of German companies.

To this end, various scenarios of regular operation at industrial project partners are being evaluated. STILL is, of course, one of the participants. The technology company is testing and evaluating the low-latency and resilient control of vehicles and the transmission of videos at very high data rates.

Bergmann: “This will be the first time our new 5G network is put to the test and will be benchmarked against other solutions. I am quite sure, however, that our system will pass this test with flying colours. Through these activities, STILL will also expand its expertise to advise its customers in this field of technology.”

 

STILL establishes own 5G network

Posted on by David Priestman

In order to participate in various research projects, develop innovative products and implement a smart factory, the intralogistics provider STILL has now set up its own 5G network at its Hamburg headquarters.

Already today, we see largely autonomous transport vehicles in production halls and warehouses. However, their capabilities still remain inferior to those of humans, as many processes still need to be learned and are not intelligent in every respect. Therefore, many suppliers are striving to fill this gap and make vehicles even more intelligent.

This broader vision of autonomously driving transport vehicles, however, can only be realised with very powerful mobile networks in order to move large amounts of data safely, promptly and efficiently. For this reason, STILL, which has always been very intensively involved in the development of innovative logistics and production solutions, has now installed its own 5G-SA campus network at its corporate headquarters in Hamburg.

“This 5G network, with which we are once again underlining our innovativeness, as 5G is not yet widespread in industry today, will on the one hand help us to take autonomously running logistics processes to a new level for our customers,” says Ansgar Bergmann, STILL expert for data and networking, describing the most important reasons for installing the company’s own 5G network.

“To this end, we have already been participating in numerous international research projects for many years that explore the idea of Industry 4.0. On the other hand, we will optimise our production with super-fast data transmission technology. In future, wireless production robots and people will be able to work together smoothly there in the sense of the ‘smart factory’ thanks to fast wireless communication.”

Innumerable technological approaches

Particularly interesting, according to Bergmann, are the performance and reliability aspects of 5G, as it is a licensed frequency spectrum for the user. “These are interesting, for example, in indoor logistics when integrating driverless transport systems. The operator is thus better supported than was previously possible with WLAN. Entire AGV fleets can be coordinated in real time and the control and route data can be managed in an edge cloud of the company,” says the expert.

Further possible applications include robotics, collaboration between humans and machines, and imaging processes for environment recognition.

Numerous new scenarios

Industry 4.0 approaches are also noticeably boosted by 5G technology. This optimises the step from classic to fully automated systems because Industry 4.0 is primarily based on data technology processes, and it is precisely these that are supported by 5G. All systems and products in the field of automation, process transparency, pay per use, predictive maintenance or consulting will be further advanced by 5G.

New visions, especially those based on machine learning, for which this data transfer boost is targeted, will soon be implemented by STILL in real existing technology. To this end, the company is involved in numerous international research projects, such as the ARIBIC project. The aim is to make better use of the data that automated guided vehicles (AGVs) collect via their sensors and cameras during their journeys through the warehouse. For example, digital twins of the environment are created that process relevant information in real time.

“These processes generate enormous amounts of data that must be transmitted at a very high speed. Without our new 5G data network, some approaches are not even possible. The previous technologies are usually quite susceptible to interference, which makes our work more difficult,” says Bergmann.

New CampusOS flagship project

Only a few weeks ago, at the beginning of 2022, the CampusOS lighthouse project was launched, which will be funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology with €18.1m over the next three years. Its goal is to build a modular ecosystem for open 5G campus networks based on open radio technologies and interoperable network components. It is intended to help strengthen the digital sovereignty of German companies.

To this end, various scenarios of regular operation at industrial project partners are being evaluated. STILL is, of course, one of the participants. The technology company is testing and evaluating the low-latency and resilient control of vehicles and the transmission of videos at very high data rates.

Bergmann: “This will be the first time our new 5G network is put to the test and will be benchmarked against other solutions. I am quite sure, however, that our system will pass this test with flying colours. Through these activities, STILL will also expand its expertise to advise its customers in this field of technology.”

 

Forto secures $250m to accelerate international expansion

Posted on by David Priestman

Forto, a leading provider of digitised freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, has raised $250m in a pre-emptive Series D investment round led by Disruptive. Also participating in the round are existing investors including Softbank Vision Fund 2, G Squared, Northzone, Unbound, and A.P. Moeller Holding. The current round places the company valuation at $2.1bn.

According to Forto CEO and Co-Founder Michael Wax, this earlier-than-anticipated investment will further advance the company’s plans to enhance its offering for customers on a global scale. “We recognise that this is an exceptionally challenging period for many of our customers. As our business remains well-funded from our previous round in 2021, this new round will simply allow us to accelerate the execution of our existing strategy, particularly on our geographic expansion,” commented Wax.

“It will allow us to further widen our customer offer, bring our technology platform support to customers in new markets, and capitalise on new opportunities as they arise.”

The latest investment comes just eight months after a June 2021 announcement of a $240m investment round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2. The new funding builds upon the company’s significant financial position, with the total investment raised over $600m to date. This fresh commitment from both new and existing investors serves as a clear validation of the company’s vision, robust business model, and successful strategy, which are all focused on building better logistics and supply chain experiences.

Forto is using its digital platform to simplify interactions, remove process friction, and increase visibility around the supply chain — in turn empowering customers to make smarter commercial decisions. It strives to make the movement of goods around the globe simpler and more certain, while simultaneously helping the logistics industry become more sustainable.

Disruptive, a leading technology investment firm based in the United States (Austin, TX), explained the opportunity it sees in Forto: “the last few years have presented significant challenges and well-publicised uncertainty around the worldwide movement of goods. They have clearly highlighted the need for further visibility and control across the supply chain, and for Forto’s transformative solutions,” commented Alex Davis, CEO of Disruptive.

“Forto has significant potential to drive real change and improve global logistics experiences for customers across industries and touching all sectors of the shipping industry.”

Forto has a worldwide presence with offices across Germany and Asia (including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Singapore and Hong Kong). In 2021, the company expanded its European presence with offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark, Madrid in Spain, Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It also opened an office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In 2022, Forto plans to further expand its footprint to customers in Poland, Belgium, Sweden and southern Europe.

Forto will continue to grow the company, with the addition of further industry-leading expertise in technology and logistics and the expansion of the senior leadership team to underpin this growth. In addition to the appointment of logistics industry experts to lead its regional expansion efforts, Forto recently appointed Jochen Freese, formerly Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer for CEVA Logistics, as Executive Vice President of Procurement and Business Development.

The company will also continue to advance its work to make global trade more sustainable. It aims to make climate action easy for customers, which starts with visibility on emissions and information that empowers them to make impactful data-based decisions. The goal is for sustainable choices to become the default.

The transaction remains subject to statutory closing conditions and is expected to conclude in the next few weeks.

 

Forto secures $250m to accelerate international expansion

Posted on by David Priestman

Forto, a leading provider of digitised freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, has raised $250m in a pre-emptive Series D investment round led by Disruptive. Also participating in the round are existing investors including Softbank Vision Fund 2, G Squared, Northzone, Unbound, and A.P. Moeller Holding. The current round places the company valuation at $2.1bn.

According to Forto CEO and Co-Founder Michael Wax, this earlier-than-anticipated investment will further advance the company’s plans to enhance its offering for customers on a global scale. “We recognise that this is an exceptionally challenging period for many of our customers. As our business remains well-funded from our previous round in 2021, this new round will simply allow us to accelerate the execution of our existing strategy, particularly on our geographic expansion,” commented Wax.

“It will allow us to further widen our customer offer, bring our technology platform support to customers in new markets, and capitalise on new opportunities as they arise.”

The latest investment comes just eight months after a June 2021 announcement of a $240m investment round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2. The new funding builds upon the company’s significant financial position, with the total investment raised over $600m to date. This fresh commitment from both new and existing investors serves as a clear validation of the company’s vision, robust business model, and successful strategy, which are all focused on building better logistics and supply chain experiences.

Forto is using its digital platform to simplify interactions, remove process friction, and increase visibility around the supply chain — in turn empowering customers to make smarter commercial decisions. It strives to make the movement of goods around the globe simpler and more certain, while simultaneously helping the logistics industry become more sustainable.

Disruptive, a leading technology investment firm based in the United States (Austin, TX), explained the opportunity it sees in Forto: “the last few years have presented significant challenges and well-publicised uncertainty around the worldwide movement of goods. They have clearly highlighted the need for further visibility and control across the supply chain, and for Forto’s transformative solutions,” commented Alex Davis, CEO of Disruptive.

“Forto has significant potential to drive real change and improve global logistics experiences for customers across industries and touching all sectors of the shipping industry.”

Forto has a worldwide presence with offices across Germany and Asia (including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Singapore and Hong Kong). In 2021, the company expanded its European presence with offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark, Madrid in Spain, Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It also opened an office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In 2022, Forto plans to further expand its footprint to customers in Poland, Belgium, Sweden and southern Europe.

Forto will continue to grow the company, with the addition of further industry-leading expertise in technology and logistics and the expansion of the senior leadership team to underpin this growth. In addition to the appointment of logistics industry experts to lead its regional expansion efforts, Forto recently appointed Jochen Freese, formerly Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer for CEVA Logistics, as Executive Vice President of Procurement and Business Development.

The company will also continue to advance its work to make global trade more sustainable. It aims to make climate action easy for customers, which starts with visibility on emissions and information that empowers them to make impactful data-based decisions. The goal is for sustainable choices to become the default.

The transaction remains subject to statutory closing conditions and is expected to conclude in the next few weeks.

 

Flowlity secures funding to aid European expansion

Posted on by David Priestman

Flowlity, an innovative AI-based supply chain planning and forecasting solution, has secured over £4m in funding, led by Fortino Capital, to expand throughout Europe.

The funding will be used to accelerate its development with the aim to becoming an industry leader by providing innovate ways of reducing waste across the entire supply chain – enabling companies to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

Armed with its innovative AI-based tool, Flowlity is already working with several companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors, such as Saint-Gobain, Miba, and Bosch. For La Redoute, the software has already led to an inventory reduction of 40% and at e-commerce retailer Camif, stock shortages have reduced by 10%.

In today’s world, traditional JIT (Just-in-time) models are not robust enough to handle increasingly frequent supply chain disruptions. COVID has demonstrated the importance of supply chain planning to manufacturers and the general public around the world, but it has also highlighted a host of problems, including raw materials shortages and increasing lead times. Around $2tr are lost every year as a result of overstocking or shortages, all caused by the use of obsolete forecasting models.

Intending to provide an effective response to the challenges, Flowlity has come to the fold with a new planning and stock optimisation methodology called ‘Resilient Planning’. The solution allows supply chain planners to capture market volatility and react to disruptions in an agile and effective way.

Jean-Baptiste Clouard, CEO at Flowlity, said: “Thanks to support from Fortino Capital, OSS Ventures and 42Cap, we will be able to work with more European companies in their planning challenges to help them to reduce scrap and waste and to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Filip Van Innis, Investment Director at Fortino Capital, said: “We believe Flowlity has a clear strategic focus and an experienced team to accelerate the transformation and digitalisation of supply chain optimisation models across Europe and thereby facilitate a more robust economy.”

Alexander Meyer, Partner at 42Cap, a Munich-based seed investor, said: “We are delighted to continue to support Flowlity in their European expansion. Since they first launched, we have believed in the power of their platform and their growth potential.”

2021 was a good year for Flowlity, – as well as featuring among the winners at the 23rd edition of the iLab Innovation Competition, it also expanded internationally by signing the first cross-Atlantic contract and doubling its client portfolio.

Building on 100%+ growth, Flowlity is continuing its rise in 2022 and is welcoming Peter Schram, former Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, and Edouard Fourcade, former Managing Director EMEA at Anaplan, to the board. To achieve the business objectives, it hopes to expand its current team of 30 employees to around 50 by the end of the year.

 

 

Flowlity secures funding to aid European expansion

Posted on by David Priestman

Flowlity, an innovative AI-based supply chain planning and forecasting solution, has secured over £4m in funding, led by Fortino Capital, to expand throughout Europe.

The funding will be used to accelerate its development with the aim to becoming an industry leader by providing innovate ways of reducing waste across the entire supply chain – enabling companies to save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

Armed with its innovative AI-based tool, Flowlity is already working with several companies in the manufacturing and retail sectors, such as Saint-Gobain, Miba, and Bosch. For La Redoute, the software has already led to an inventory reduction of 40% and at e-commerce retailer Camif, stock shortages have reduced by 10%.

In today’s world, traditional JIT (Just-in-time) models are not robust enough to handle increasingly frequent supply chain disruptions. COVID has demonstrated the importance of supply chain planning to manufacturers and the general public around the world, but it has also highlighted a host of problems, including raw materials shortages and increasing lead times. Around $2tr are lost every year as a result of overstocking or shortages, all caused by the use of obsolete forecasting models.

Intending to provide an effective response to the challenges, Flowlity has come to the fold with a new planning and stock optimisation methodology called ‘Resilient Planning’. The solution allows supply chain planners to capture market volatility and react to disruptions in an agile and effective way.

Jean-Baptiste Clouard, CEO at Flowlity, said: “Thanks to support from Fortino Capital, OSS Ventures and 42Cap, we will be able to work with more European companies in their planning challenges to help them to reduce scrap and waste and to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Filip Van Innis, Investment Director at Fortino Capital, said: “We believe Flowlity has a clear strategic focus and an experienced team to accelerate the transformation and digitalisation of supply chain optimisation models across Europe and thereby facilitate a more robust economy.”

Alexander Meyer, Partner at 42Cap, a Munich-based seed investor, said: “We are delighted to continue to support Flowlity in their European expansion. Since they first launched, we have believed in the power of their platform and their growth potential.”

2021 was a good year for Flowlity, – as well as featuring among the winners at the 23rd edition of the iLab Innovation Competition, it also expanded internationally by signing the first cross-Atlantic contract and doubling its client portfolio.

Building on 100%+ growth, Flowlity is continuing its rise in 2022 and is welcoming Peter Schram, former Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, and Edouard Fourcade, former Managing Director EMEA at Anaplan, to the board. To achieve the business objectives, it hopes to expand its current team of 30 employees to around 50 by the end of the year.

 

 

Alaska Air Cargo selects iCargo software

Posted on by David Priestman

IBS Software, a worldwide leader of SaaS solutions to the travel industry, has signed a long-term agreement with Alaska Air Cargo to transform and modernise its air cargo IT ecosystem. IBS Software will implement its full suite cargo management solution across the air cargo business of Alaska Airlines.

iCargo will digitally transform Alaska Air Cargo’s sales & inventory, cargo terminal operations, air mail handling and revenue accounting, and mobile applications. Additionally, iCargo will enable the airline to have an end-to-end view of its air cargo value chain activities and provide important operational insights across the entire network.

The enhanced messaging and communication capabilities of iCargo will also ensure that Alaska Air Cargo can connect seamlessly with customers and partners in near real-time for better collaboration, resulting in faster decisions and better business outcomes.

“Selecting IBS Software’s iCargo was a strategic decision, and part of our digital transformation programme,” said Adam Drouhard, managing director, Alaska Air Cargo “This fully integrated solution will allow us to re-imagine and deliver a truly digital air cargo ecosystem of solutions to our employees, while creating a seamless business experience for our customers.”

“IBS Software is proud to partner with Alaska Air Cargo and be part of its digital cargo transformation. We welcome Alaska Air Cargo to the growing iCargo family of airlines and ground handlers and believe it’s the start of a great journey for both of our companies,” said Sam Shukla, Vice President of The Americas Region at IBS Software.

Berkshire Grey forms UK partnership with Tessiant

Posted on by David Priestman

Berkshire Grey Inc., a leader in AI-enabled robotic solutions that automate supply chain processes, and Tessiant, a leading change and transformation consultancy, have announced their partnership to help transform supply chain operations through intelligent robotic automation of eCommerce fulfilment, store replenishment, package handling and logistics. Together, the two companies will give UK retailers access to the most advanced AI-enabled robotic solutions designed to meet consumer expectations for on-demand order fulfilment.

“Berkshire Grey’s portfolio of Intelligent Enterprise Robotic (IER) solutions is what many UK retailers are searching for during this confluence of challenges including the eCommerce boom, labour shortages and rising consumer expectations,” said Anna Barsby, Managing Partner at Tessiant. “We are excited to partner with Berkshire Grey to help our clients overcome these issues and improve supply chain operations with AI-enabled robotics.”

Labour shortages are pervasive throughout Europe, with the number of job vacancies in the UK alone rising to a new record of 1.3 million in January 2022. This is further compounded by ever-increasing consumer demands for instantaneous order fulfilment and lingering COVID issues. Supply chain leaders are under more pressure than ever to find new solutions that increase efficiency and order processing throughput in eCommerce fulfilment, store replenishment and package handling.

With the launch of this partnership, UK companies will now have access to Berkshire Grey’s extensive robotic solutions and services including design, installation, testing and commissioning, and continued support leveraging cloud-based AI solutions for predictive maintenance, management of system operations, analytics and integration.

“We look forward to working side-by-side with Tessiant to advise the top retailers and eCommerce providers in the UK on how to leverage AI-enabled robotic solutions that can help them transform their supply chain,” said Neil Berry, Senior Vice President and General Manager for EMEA at Berkshire Grey. “Berkshire Grey and Tessiant both believe robotics are essential to help retailers stay competitive amid the growing market challenges, and we’re happy to partner with them to bring unique solutions to their network of clients.”

With this partnership, Tessiant will join Berkshire Grey’s Partner Alliance (BGPA) programme as a Consulting Partner. The BGPA programme includes a select group of strategic partners that provide customers across the retail, eCommerce, 3PL, grocery, and package handling industries with scalable robotic solutions developed to improve fulfilment throughput while driving down operational costs. The BGPA programme consists of market-leading consultants, integrators, technology providers and material handling leaders dedicated to providing value-added, AI-enabled robotic solutions to customers.

Berkshire Grey forms UK partnership with Tessiant

Posted on by David Priestman

Berkshire Grey Inc., a leader in AI-enabled robotic solutions that automate supply chain processes, and Tessiant, a leading change and transformation consultancy, have announced their partnership to help transform supply chain operations through intelligent robotic automation of eCommerce fulfilment, store replenishment, package handling and logistics. Together, the two companies will give UK retailers access to the most advanced AI-enabled robotic solutions designed to meet consumer expectations for on-demand order fulfilment.

“Berkshire Grey’s portfolio of Intelligent Enterprise Robotic (IER) solutions is what many UK retailers are searching for during this confluence of challenges including the eCommerce boom, labour shortages and rising consumer expectations,” said Anna Barsby, Managing Partner at Tessiant. “We are excited to partner with Berkshire Grey to help our clients overcome these issues and improve supply chain operations with AI-enabled robotics.”

Labour shortages are pervasive throughout Europe, with the number of job vacancies in the UK alone rising to a new record of 1.3 million in January 2022. This is further compounded by ever-increasing consumer demands for instantaneous order fulfilment and lingering COVID issues. Supply chain leaders are under more pressure than ever to find new solutions that increase efficiency and order processing throughput in eCommerce fulfilment, store replenishment and package handling.

With the launch of this partnership, UK companies will now have access to Berkshire Grey’s extensive robotic solutions and services including design, installation, testing and commissioning, and continued support leveraging cloud-based AI solutions for predictive maintenance, management of system operations, analytics and integration.

“We look forward to working side-by-side with Tessiant to advise the top retailers and eCommerce providers in the UK on how to leverage AI-enabled robotic solutions that can help them transform their supply chain,” said Neil Berry, Senior Vice President and General Manager for EMEA at Berkshire Grey. “Berkshire Grey and Tessiant both believe robotics are essential to help retailers stay competitive amid the growing market challenges, and we’re happy to partner with them to bring unique solutions to their network of clients.”

With this partnership, Tessiant will join Berkshire Grey’s Partner Alliance (BGPA) programme as a Consulting Partner. The BGPA programme includes a select group of strategic partners that provide customers across the retail, eCommerce, 3PL, grocery, and package handling industries with scalable robotic solutions developed to improve fulfilment throughput while driving down operational costs. The BGPA programme consists of market-leading consultants, integrators, technology providers and material handling leaders dedicated to providing value-added, AI-enabled robotic solutions to customers.

Siemens collaborates to produce smart AGVs

Posted on by David Priestman

Siemens has partnered with UK-based Parmley Graham and AR Controls to produce smart automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to meet the growing demand across industries.

At the heart of the innovation is the Siemens AGV kit, which includes SIMOVE, a standardised system platform for AGV applications and solutions to suit any customer across industries, and the SIMATIC MICRO-DRIVE, a versatile, seamless, and safety-related servo drive system that covers a wide range of applications in the protective extra-low voltage range (24-48V DC). Servo drives are used extensively when building AGVs. These compatible controllers from the SIMATIC portfolios optimally complement the motion control functionalities of this future-proof solution.

The design, build and manufacture of the AGVs are a result of collaboration with Gateshead-based Parmley Graham, leaders in industrial automation, and Sunderland-based AR Controls, experts in integration and robotics. Parmley Graham is working collaboratively to support the project through the provision of hardware specifications, organising of kit-formed bills of material, and sourcing of other third-party products for the AGVs. AR Controls is using its wealth of experience to design and build this new range of AGV.

The collaboration comes at a time when the demand for AGVs is increasing. The pandemic put many industries into disarray, especially the logistics industry that struggled to get essentials to consumers during lockdowns and border closings. Manufacturers across industries had to rethink and look towards efficient processes in warehousing, moving goods internally within the factory, and deal with labour shortages from both the pandemic and Brexit.

AGVs bring a wealth of benefits including improved warehousing efficiency and streamlined logistics management, lower labour costs, faster delivery, and reduced risk of workplace injury. They can also be integrated to achieve digitalisation and Smart Factory goals.

The alliance aims to target the exponential growth in the global AGV market, which is expected to almost double to $3.72bn by 2028.

The partnership builds on its success providing hundreds of AGV kits to a major auto manufacturer, which has a production plant in the North.

Commenting on the partnership Brian Holliday, Managing Director, Siemens Digital Industries, said: “The UK supply chain market is growing exponentially, and most manufacturers are now investing in technologies to boost their own logistics. AGVs are a crucial part of this investment.

“Partners like Parmley Graham that have a legacy in automation were well equipped with the right technologies and experience to deliver AGVs to the automotive manufacturer. It is also a testimony that given an opportunity, innovation can help generate new income streams for businesses in these testing times.”

Nick Wilson, Managing Director, Parmley Graham, said: “We work in partnership with organisations across a wide spectrum of industries. This collaboration helped produce the AGVs for a burgeoning need to meet efficiencies in warehousing, intralogistics, and logistics across many industries.

“Our experienced engineering team regularly delivers innovative solutions, training, and support that is tailored to the diverse needs of our varied customer base. We take our initiatives seriously and have appointed a project manager to oversee the production of the AGVs. We will be able to deliver bespoke solutions for AGVs to a range of customers in the pharmaceutical, food and drink and logistic industries”

Andy Ramsey, Company Founder and Managing Director, AR Controls, said: “We have a portfolio of automotive manufacturers for who we provide services like sensing, position control, visual inspection, machine safety, audio-indent, robotics, drives and programmable logic control so partnering with Siemens and Parmley Graham to produce AGVs is a very exciting project for us. We look forward to a fruitful outcome of this alliance.

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