Better Choice than AGVs Are Robots by Seegrid Reports ForkliftAction.com
Submitted by: TR Cutler, Inc.
2012-07-17 12:02:07
(OPENPRESS) July 18, 2012 -- ForkliftAction.com recently reported how Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are costly, rigid, and lack the flexibility needed by companies like American Packaging Corp. APC recently expanded its facility in Columbus, WI. Company executives recognized they either needed to add labor or automate. There was a need to safely transport printed materials across the 100,000 square foot expansion and adding labor was just not an option. Instead, APC added Seegrid's Robotic Industrial Trucks and reassigned the labor needed to transport the product to more value-added functions.
APC creates millions of colorful packages and labels a year. APC prints for famous food products like Klondike Bar, Pringles potato chips, M&M's, refrigerated dough by Pillsbury, and Tyson Chicken. Located in Columbus, Wisconsin, APC is rated one of the top rotogravure printers of paper and film based flexible packaging specifications in the world. Seegrid robots are essential for APC because the facility features multiple eight and ten color rotogravure presses capable of in-line printing with tandem lamination of film, paper and foil substrates. The robotic pallet trucks transport two printed rolls of work in process from the presses to the slitters weighing 3,000 pounds each.
Part of the growth experienced by APC is the capability to combine several substrates in-line, enabling American Packaging to develop laminations with customized physical, optical, and sealing properties that meet specific product and packaging format requirements. The wide variety of structures currently manufactured, along with the goal of continuous improvement, led APC to choose robots over AGVs. The flexibility robots provide meets the wide variety and responsiveness required throughout the operation. APC trains a new route with Seegrid robots and it's operational within minutes; that is impossible with AGVs.
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Seegrid Corp. (www.seegrid.com) brings robotic vision-guided technology to the material handling industry. Seegrid offers solutions that optimize workflow processes by increasing productivity and reducing costs, creating economic and operational advantages. Part of the role of the robotic leadership is support education initiatives which ensure a workforce ready to use these technologies.
Seegrid recently released a video about how American Packaging Corporation selected their robotic industrial trucks instead of automated guided vehicles. The short video can be viewed at: http://www.seegrid.com/videos/american-packaging-chose-robots-over-agvs.
