17 May, 2022

Panasonic equips The Pallet Network with TOUGHBOOK tablets

Posted on 17 May, 202229 July, 2025 by David Priestman

UK pallet freight delivery network The Pallet Network (TPN) has mobilised its forklift trucks at the company’s three depots with 150 new Panasonic TOUGHBOOK Android tablets, helping to improve productivity and customer service in the competitive logistics industry.

“We had ageing Windows 7 devices mounted in our forklifts that were no longer supported and getting pretty tired,” explained Robert Haigh, IT Director at TPN. “These devices are critical to our operations, so it was clear that they needed to be modernised. As well as upgrading the old hardware, we also knew we could make further improvements by moving to the latest Android platform and deploying new software for our forklift operators to use.”

Working with trusted IT services partner Renovotec, the company set about evaluating options and assessed all the leading industry providers alongside Panasonic TOUGHBOOK and its rugged Android A3 tablet. The critical factors in choosing the Panasonic devices were their ruggedness and reliability in the challenging working environment and the ability to run TPN’s in-house developed software application for managing and moving the pallets. In addition, ease of management and long-term support for the devices were other important considerations.

“The Panasonic device immediately stood out as different,” said Robert. “It was a much more polished and complete package in terms of design and robustness. Ultimately, we now have a solution that is ideal for our working environment and that we can rely upon to do the job, allowing us to concentrate on delivering a fast, transparent and competitive service to our customers.”

CLICK HERE to view the video.

Panasonic equips The Pallet Network with TOUGHBOOK tablets

Posted on 17 May, 2022 by David Priestman

CLICK HERE to view the video.

MAN trials automation with Magazino robot

Posted on 17 May, 202225 July, 2025 by David Priestman

The robotics company Magazino has acquired MAN as a customer for a pilot project with its SOTO mobile robot. SOTO automates the material supply between the warehouse and the assembly line, by handling and transporting small load carriers (KLT) completely autonomously. The pilot operation started at MAN’s Nuremberg, Germany site in the engine production for trucks, and offers both sides the opportunity to gain experiences with the robot for a future live operation.

MAN and Magazino have had a close development partnership in recent years. Among other things, hardware and software, as well as environment requirements for a live operation in an industrial plant were defined. The pilot project is now scheduled to run for around one year and lays the foundation for the implementation of an entire fleet of SOTO robots in 2023.

Dr Ingo Essel, Plant Manager Nuremberg, says: “We want to set up our logistics efficiently and effectively for the future and use the potential of digitalisation and automation in the process. With the help of SOTO, the entire delivery process can be fully automated, from depalletising in the automated small parts warehouse to provisioning in assembly.

“This way, we are pushing the topic of “advanced robotics” and building a smart supply chain in the interaction of humans and robots. We are pleased to have found a partner in Magazino who can optimally serve our high demands for automation in factory logistics and provide a flexible and scalable automation concept.”

Paul Seluga, Magazino’s Project Manager for the pilot project with MAN, describes the target process as follows: “The robot SOTO picks up the KLTs from the handover-rack of the automatic small parts warehouse and brings up to 18 KLTs simultaneously to the production line. There, SOTO places the KLTs, which can weigh up to 20kg, into common flow racks. On the back of these racks, the workers can easily access the individual parts for assembly. SOTO can also pick up empty KLTs in the process and bring them to the central collection point.”

Common VDA KLT formats up to a size of 600mm x 400mm x 280mm are used in the Nuremberg plant. The robot’s adaptive gripper automatically adjusts to the corresponding KLT size and flexibly moves to the different chutes of the transfer racks. Machine-readable codes on the racks as well as barcode labels on the containers help the robot to identify them. In future, the robot will obtain the material transport requests from the warehouse management system.

While assembly lines in the manufacturing industry are already highly automated and optimised, the supply of replenishments is still mainly done manually. Previous solutions such as tugger trains or simple automated guided vehicles (AGVs) cannot fully automate the process, as manual labour is required for loading and unloading the KLTs into racks.

SOTO combines these elementary logistical processes in a single, fully autonomous solution: the pick-up of different KLTs from a warehouse, the autonomous transport of several KLTs through the production, and the put-down of KLTs into flow racks close to the production line. The collection of empties as well as the rotation of small load carriers by 90° to 180° are also part of its features. The automation and combination of all these process steps clearly sets SOTO apart in the market and, for the first time, enables true end-to-end automation in the material supply.

MAN trials automation with Magazino robot

Posted on 17 May, 2022 by David Priestman

Continental premieres AMRs at LogiMAT

Posted on 17 May, 202225 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Continental will present for the first time in public its Autonomous Mobile Robots for the external market at the LogiMAT 2022, the international intralogistics tradeshow, from May 31 to June 2 in Stuttgart, Germany (hall 2, booth number EF15).

After an internal test phase in Continental production locations worldwide, the AMRs are now ready for the external market entry with improved and new features as well as the handling of new use cases. Building on the company’s years of extensive research in the robotics field, Continental is including these solutions now into its product portfolio in the newly established area of Continental Mobile Robots.

“We are pleased to confirm that from now on volume production of the AMRs has started in Continental’s Rheinböllen plant in Germany with the first external customer projects slated to be delivered,” says Pierre Pomper, Head of Autonomous Mobile Robots at Continental. “Continental complements its in-house capabilities with a partner ecosystem of technology leaders Kinexon and ROEQ to provide customers a leading edge AMR solution out of one hand.”

Since 2020, Continental’s AMRs have been successfully deployed at several own production locations worldwide. The company built its Autonomous Mobile Robots in-house to meet the demands and challenges of the future factory, since such a solution was not readily available in the market. The experience gained has now been incorporated into the AMR version for the external market.

Due to the load density, the electric vehicles are as small and compact as possible, but can carry very heavy weights. With measurements of only 1,455mm, 630mm and 225mm (l/w/h), the AMRs can carry significant loads up to 1.2 tonnes at a speed of up to 2m/s. Thus, they are versatile, while also being maximally manoeuvrable. Increased torque, shorter turning radius, optimised sensor coverage, improvements to its lifting mechanism design and accessibility of controls as well as the easy equipment for the transport of carts, pallets and top rollers are additional features.

Customers can benefit from a partnership between Continental and Kinexon. The fleet management software of Kinexon which is offered optionally turns an AMR fleet into an intelligent and perfectly coordinated swarm. The creation of orders and routes as well as the management of the AMRs will become much easier and more standardised (e.g., using the VDA5050 protocol).

“We developed a reliable and scalable fleet management software in collaboration with Continental, which increases the flexibility and performance of our customers AMR fleets. Additionally, we offer an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) system for connecting relevant things of the material flow such as AMRs. Our holistic fleet management software combines this information in real time to optimise supply chains, material flow and industrial automation even more,” says Dr. Alexander Hüttenbrink, Managing Director at Kinexon.

Continental is able to offer its AMRs with different top modules. Customers can choose between cart/rack and lifting unit use cases. Due to the close collaboration with ROEQ, a leading expert for robotic equipment, Continental can now also offer top roller modules, for transferring loads between AMRs and conveyors. The number of options offered is what makes Continental’s offering so unique. At LogiMAT, an AMR with top roller module from ROEQ will be shown as a world premiere.

“We are excited to team up with a strong partner like Continental,” says Michael E. Hansen, Managing Director at ROEQ. “We are on a path of significant growth and I am convinced that our collaboration will provide customers with a wider choice of better and more robust solutions to meet their logistic challenges.”

The AMRs are an attractive shopfloor logistics solution for several industries including logistics and warehousing, automotive, food and beverage as well as electrical and electronics. They work hand-in-hand with humans, reduce manual activities such as driving forklift trucks, speed up transport and provide an accurate overview of shopfloor inventory and its storage location. Continental offers everything from a single source, which is not quite common in the market and a big benefit for the customers: From consulting, sales, integration, service and support to maintenance contracts and a 24-hour support – everything out of one hand.

Continental premieres AMRs at LogiMAT

Posted on 17 May, 202225 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Next-generation track-and-trace

Posted on 17 May, 202229 July, 2025 by David Priestman

When every shipment matters, it adds real value to have critical real-time location and environment information at immediate hand. Logistics Business Magazine’s editor Paul Hamblin meets a track-and-trace solution with a vital extra dimension.

Track and Trace technology is now firmly moving to the next level with the increasing adoption of applications that offer much more than basic location guidance. US-founded Tive is a good example, promising real-time shipment updates including such in-depth information as location, temperature, light and shock readings. That makes it a very useful resource for fresh food and beverage, pharma and critical-shipment logistics providers, where correct regulated temperature and physical stability are vital to a successful passage. The Tive logic is that with this data immediately available to carrier and shipper alike, a cargo under threat can be saved, to the benefit of all parties.

Tive’s model seems to be finding plenty of traction, with over 100 global customers including logistics giants such as DSV, and Hellmann Worldwide Logistics. It raised $12m in series A capital funding at the back end of 2020 with a second round recently raising a further $54m.

Even London’s world-renowned National Gallery uses Tive to give reassurance when dispatching and receiving priceless artworks.

Jim Waters, Vice President, Global Marketing, tells me an entertaining tale from his office in Boston, Massachusetts about the company’s genesis. In 2015, founder Krenar Komoni – a native of Kosovo but an American citizen also now based in Boston – was intrigued by the inordinate length of time his father-in-law spent all day, including over dinner with the family, on the phone calling colleagues to check the status or locations of his business shipments. Komoni began to muse on the enormous value that could be delivered to organisations and individuals if such crucial information could be sourced at the touch of a button. And that’s precisely what he has now delivered.

A Tive journey begins at the touch of a small green button, attached to playing-card sized (96mm x 58mm, depth 19mm) plastic backing. Attach the tracker, usually via 3M adhesive (though one global multimodal freight client uses magnets) to the last pallet to go in the container. Press the button and data is transmitted in real time to Tive’s global-based data management team.

Jim Waters: “There’s method in applying the technology to the rear pallet. The temperature-control unit – or reefer – is at the front, meaning that the reading being sent back covers the whole truck, not just the front, therefore providing more reliable readings.”

From that point, temperature, light, shock and humidity are all recorded at every stage of the multimodal journey (road, sea, air and rail). Temperature accuracy is guaranteed to within ±0.5°C within a range of -20 to 60°C. Location tracking is accurate to within 10m using WiFi, GPS or Mobile network with 2G (now largely a legacy system) to 5G all covered. Shock sensitivity can be traced up to 12G impact, but with sensitivity as low as 0.5G, the team can deduce a pothole in the road as equally as a calamitous drop from a high-bay shelf.

“It’s about collaboration,” says Jim Waters. “We are there to work with the carrier and their customer to help save the shipment in the event of an excursion. We can point out where a temperature threshold might have been exceeded, if only for a few moments. If a delivery of fresh grapes is rotten within two days of arrival, we can tell all parties if something happened on the journey to make that fruit rot faster than it should have.”

Critical journeys are another must-have. “I can tell you hair-raising stories about hearts, livers and kidneys left on the tarmac when they should have been on an aircraft that has just taken off without them,” he reveals.

Tive can be customised to suit customer needs – it’s available with a lithium/non-lithium battery according to customer preference, and while single-use are in operation with many clients, a multi-use version for circular logistics processes offers cost savings.

Next-generation track-and-trace

Posted on 17 May, 2022 by David Priestman

Even London’s world-renowned National Gallery uses Tive to give reassurance when dispatching and receiving priceless artworks.

Yale to showcase ‘Technology that moves’ at LogiMAT

Posted on 17 May, 202225 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Yale Europe Materials Handling will return to LogiMAT with a showcase of solutions and materials handling products embodying the ethos ‘Technology that moves’. Visitors to Stand D31 in Hall 9 of Stuttgart Messe can expect to see the latest edition to the Yale product range, the Series N.

Yale experts will be on hand to discuss how Yale products enhance the latest logistics innovations by combining technology and design to provide tailored solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

“Yale has undergone an exciting business transformation, which we will demonstrate to visitors to LogiMAT 2022,” said Timo Antony, Area Business Director Central Europe at Yale. “We’re looking forward to meeting in-person with our customers, dealers and prospects to show how Yale solutions can keep their businesses moving and thriving.”

Forward thinking logistics

As part of a deepening partnership with one of the world’s top manufacturers of energy storage solutions, Yale will showcase a MR16 reach truck powered by a lithium-ion battery from Sunlight Group. Having previously used the company’s lead-acid batteries in its product range, Yale now offers Sunlight Group lithium-ion batteries as a power solution for its customers.

The MR16 Reach Truck can lift up to 10.5m and has a maximum load capacity of 1600kg. The robust heavy-duty mast design provides high residual capacities and stable load handling, which can enable faster put away and retrieval times.

Yale is proud to be revealing its new Series N ICE counterbalance truck for the very first time at a live trade show at LogiMAT. As well as being easily configured to match unique requirements, raising the bar for success in almost all applications and environments, the Series N offers shift-long operator comfort, excellent visibility and high fuel efficiency.

“There will be a lot of exciting announcements from Yale in the coming 12 months, and LogiMAT is set to kick-start a bright and prosperous chapter for our company, our dealers, and our customers old and new. LogiMAT 2022 is a great opportunity to see our ground-breaking new range, the Series N, as well as find out more about our power solutions and expanding partnership with Sunlight Group,” concluded Antony.

Yale to showcase ‘Technology that moves’ at LogiMAT

Posted on 17 May, 2022 by David Priestman

Yale experts will be on hand to discuss how Yale products enhance the latest logistics innovations by combining technology and design to provide tailored solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.

Forward thinking logistics

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