The manufacturing company Meritor will be the first in Sweden to install Knapp’s new autonomous robotic forklifts. Robotic forklifts that navigate autonomously alongside manually operated forklifts increase safety and streamline pallet handling in Meritor’s production, as the robotic forklifts can operate around the clock.
Meritor is a leading manufacturer of drivetrains for the automotive industry. At its factory in Lindesberg, the company manufactures front and rear axles for buses and trucks for customers such as Volvo. The company is now investing in 15 new robotic forklifts that operate more efficiently and safely than manual handling.
“We see many advantages to the robotic forklifts. For one thing, they provide us with a highly flexible solution for our material handling prior to assembly, where the material flows can adapt to changes in volume and mix. At the same time, we see significant safety benefits from the autonomous forklifts working in conjunction with our manual material picking,” says Markus Andréasson, Operations Manager at Meritor.
Open Shuttle Fork (OSF)
The robotic forklifts, called Open Shuttle Fork (OSF), are manufactured by Knapp, a world leader in automation solutions. Open Shuttle Fork is a brand-new product on the market, and Meritor will be the first company in Sweden to purchase them. The trucks can be integrated with existing systems and offer a ready-to-use solution that allows customers to use a graphical interface within the software to map out routes for the trucks or set up the entire system from scratch.
“There’s no need for reflectors on the walls or tape markings on the floor. Open Shuttle Fork can navigate on its own and move along the routes assigned to the robotic trucks, even if there is manual forklift traffic running parallel to the flow,” says Mikael Holmqvist, CEO of Knapp.
Knapp's solution for Meritor focuses on reducing the number of manually operated forklifts, thereby improving safety and streamlining production.
“A robotic forklift can work 24 hours a day, every day of the week, and doesn’t need any breaks or vacations. In addition, the number of accidents associated with manual forklift operation is minimized, and the robotic forklifts don’t damage any cargo,” says Mikael Holmqvist.
Sequential picking prior to assembly will continue to be handled manually, but with the Open Shuttle Fork, the replacement and replenishment of pallets for picking will occur automatically, and staff will not have to wait for products. The trucks will be part of Knapp’s solution at Meritor, which also includes an automated high-bay pallet warehouse, an automated light-goods warehouse, conveyor systems, and software. The autonomous robotic trucks will be operational in early 2023.
