AGVs & AMRs as Options to Tow Line Conveyance

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 8fbb In a latest name with  8fbb a buyer, I used to  8fbb be informed they had been  8fbb seeking to construct a brand  8fbb new facility and investigating putting  8fbb in a tow-line to index  8fbb our construct carts down the  8fbb meeting line. The corporate actually  8fbb appreciated the pliability and scalability  8fbb of an automatic information autos  8fbb (AGV) or autonomous cellular robots  8fbb (AMR), however they believed a  8fbb tow line might have the  8fbb next ROI.
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 8fbb On the floor, this buyer’s  8fbb preliminary inclinations appeared believable. The  8fbb meeting line beneath analysis was  8fbb 20 construct stations, with transferring  8fbb construct carts that had been  8fbb designed for as much as  8fbb 4000 lbs every. As we  8fbb dug into the appliance, nevertheless,  8fbb we shortly realized that it  8fbb was not essentially true that  8fbb tow strains are vastly extra  8fbb price environment friendly than AGVs.  8fbb The identical holds for AMRs,  8fbb however given the load of  8fbb the product on this meeting  8fbb line, an AMR answer was  8fbb not applicable.
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 8fbb Two Issues
 8fbb The evaluation started with a  8fbb evaluate of the method’s takt  8fbb time, that’s, the time wanted  8fbb to finish a product to  8fbb fulfill buyer demand. The shopper’s  8fbb course of was set to  8fbb 46 minutes. We additionally examined  8fbb how a lot time is  8fbb allotted to every workstation earlier  8fbb than the road should index  8fbb ahead.
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 8fbb When assessing a course of  8fbb with lengthy takt instances for  8fbb AGV vs tow line conveyance,  8fbb there are two key concerns:
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 8fbb If AGVs had been for  8fbb use, is it essential for  8fbb every construct cart to have  8fbb its personal devoted AGV?
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 8fbb If the method takt is  8fbb lengthy, how nicely balanced is  8fbb the work content material throughout  8fbb the a number of stations?
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 8fbb Construct Carts and AGVs
 8fbb With extra time in station,  8fbb AGVs have extra time to  8fbb maneuver between stations. It’s subsequently  8fbb important to know if the  8fbb AGV should be devoted to  8fbb every construct cart or if  8fbb the carts and AGVs might  8fbb be separate entities.
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 8fbb In lots of cases, there  8fbb is no such thing as  8fbb a technical want for the  8fbb AGV to be completely linked  8fbb to its companion body cart  8fbb that sits on prime of  8fbb it. In these situations, tunneling  8fbb AGVs are a possible answer  8fbb that may result in price  8fbb financial savings. This  8fbb simulation 8fbb  highlights how solely a  8fbb small variety of AGVs can  8fbb be utilized to index a  8fbb whole meeting line.
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 8fbb Because the title implies, a  8fbb tunneling AGV is a automobile  8fbb that tunnels beneath a construct  8fbb cart and engages by way  8fbb of a pin mechanism. Whereas  8fbb the pin is engaged, the  8fbb cart is coupled to the  8fbb AGV and strikes to the  8fbb place the AGV takes it.  8fbb As soon as the AGV  8fbb positions the carts of their  8fbb subsequent cease, the AGV disengages  8fbb and is free to go  8fbb transfer one thing else.
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