In this episode, I was joined by the CEO of AutoGuide, Rob Sullivan. Rob was previously on the show on Episode 105 when we connected back at MODEX 2020 this year. We caught up again to discuss AutoGuide’s recently released Mobile ASRS and the MAX-N High Bay Pallet Mover. You will hear us talk about how the business has been since MODEX, the newly released products, and also the difference in building a robot from the ground up makes.

Key Takeaways

• AutoGuide is an autonomous mobile robot company that does high payload movement. They have been doing tuggers and car movers but are now also into the ASRS and the high bay world as well. The unique thing about their robots is that they are modular. This means that a tugger can transform into a pallet stacker and give you a lot of flexibility when it comes to investing in a robotics fleet. Rob explains how this all works and the benefits of it in this episode.
• Mobile ASRS (autonomous storage and retrieval system) is one of AutoGuide’s newest solutions that brings more flexibility to the ASRS model. Rob describes that a typical ASRS would involve a crane system that would move the pallets of products or the products themselves in whatever storage unit is being utilized to bring it to a retrieval location. The Mobile ASRS by AutoGuide is a big step forward because it utilizes your existing infrastructure and just adds AutoGuide’s AMRs to create the system. The key is their software platform which locates the product and then moves it through the operational flow to get it to where it needs to be. It is a huge step forward in being able to bring automation into your existing setup.
• The next new release from AutoGuide is the MAX-N High Bay Pallet Mover. It is an autonomous counterbalanced forklift that allows you to bring automation to your high bay picking operation. This high bay pallet mover can go up to 36 feet high which allows for the majority of warehousing setups to fully utilize this robot. Rob mentions that approximately 95% of warehouses are under 40 feet which was the driver behind picking 36 feet. Choosing this height is very accommodating as it allows you to go higher with your automation and fully utilize your cubic space.
• One really cool thing (for my other inventory control nerds) is that the location software and vision that the robot has is able to capture data of not only the location it is storing or retrieving too but the locations that are next to it at the same time. Of course, I had to ask if this can be used for cycle counting and Rob confirmed that yes it is possible for the robots to be able to capture that data and input it into an inventory management system. Having these robots capture that data while they are performing other tasks is really an improvement to the overall process flow and certainly helps to improve the time it takes to cycle count.

Listen to the episode below and let us know what you think about AutoGuide’s new solutions in the comments below.