The staff at Modern Materials Handling recently looked at the increasing shift toward preference for automated lift trucks.

Insurance companies are of the opinion that robotic industrial vehicles increase operational safety by almost 10 times over vehicles operated by humans. Additional benefits of deploying robotic vehicles include a substantial reduction in costs. Enhanced safety, however, is one of the leading reasons behind the interest that insurance companies are displaying in robotics.

In a release, Frank Devlin, manager of advanced technologies at Raymond, said, “If you look at the five-year economic life of a lift truck, labor represents 70 percent to 75 percent of the total investment. If you can maximize your labor force, there is a tremendous need for this.”

Raymond ready lift trucks have been designed to function as automatic guided vehicles. The company will introduce its automated lift truck, which has been designed to feature a camera-based navigation system from Seegrid, in the first few months of 2012. As labor becomes increasingly expensive, the need for automation has taken precedence.

The staff at Modern Materials Handling magazine said,“New lift trucks have to go right to work in existing applications without disrupting operations. What’s more, the basic lift truck remains the backbone of most warehouses, DCs, and manufacturing plants. Those evolutionary changes are resulting in trucks that are more productive, smarter, and reliable than ever before.”

Established in 2003, Pittsburgh, Pa., based Seegrid Corp. has been providing the material handling industry with robotic vision-guided technology. The company's Robotic Industrial Trucks have helped enhance transportation of materials across manufacturing and distribution industries across the globe. Seegrid has successfully incorporated its technology into industrial vehicles to deliver un-manned, automated pallet trucks and tow tractors which can operate independently without wire, tape, laser or any other automated guided vehicle (AGV) guidance systems.