Automatic trucks are more reliable and more profitable

More reliable, more profitable transportation between production and the finished goods store - that was the aim of Åkerlund & Rausing when the company invested in Moving's Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) solution at its production plant in Lund. "We got what we were aiming for," says Anders Lindvall, manager for transport and logistics, "and we also got better hygiene in a sensitive environment."

The food industry is the main buyer of the packaging material that is produced at Åkerlund & Rausing. High hygiene standards are a key factor in making their customers satisfied. Therefore, when the company looked for a transportation solution within the factory, it wanted to reduce the dust thrown up by the trucks.

"The AGVs go more slowly that manual trucks," says Anders Lindvall," so we avoid the dust problem."

More reliable and more profitable
However, the main reasons for investing in AGVs were; reliability, efficiency and profitability. When the company moved one of its production units within the factory, the route to the finished goods store became longer. It soon became clear that it was not a reasonable option to drive this route with manned trucks. One reason was staff costs, another was difficulties in securing pallets for transportation, and there were also problems for manual trucks in negotiating the route's many twists and turns.

"From experience, I can say that an AGV solution is always profitable compared with manual trucks, if production runs in two shifts or more," says Urban Larsson at ProCode.

"We chose Moving/ProCode above all for their combination of price and performance," says Anders Lindvall. "But, we also saw good reference plants at Kinnarps and Volvo Olofström, and the people we met from the company promoted confidence. And, the new system gave us a rationalisation gain of a couple of people." 

Special pallets are no problem
The three AGVs are fork-lift type for Europe pallets and load up to 2,000 kg. Åkerlund & Rausing, however, uses several other pallet formats, a factor that requires a flexible solution. The AGVs therefore adapt their collection/delivery movements according to the pallet type, and all pallets can be handled in the same places.

The greatest flow of material is ready-cut transport rolls, which are to be distributed to the warehouse and goods out; 1,400-1,500 pallets per week over a distance of up to 550 metres. At the other end of the loop track these are delivered to a packaging line from Moving for strapping and stretch wrapping, a stage that was previously done entirely manually.

Minimal disruptions
The control system for the AGVs is a part of Moving/ProCode's Transport & Storage concept. This can be described as a framework that is adapted to the relevant plant and the tasks it has to carry out.

Åkerlund & Rausing's system was delivered in September 1997, and after some initial teething problems during that autumn it has functioned excellently.

"The factory is old and the floor didn't really tolerate the treatment it was subjected to when the track was laid down," explains Anders Lindvall. "However, that's solved now. ProCode also took seriously the problems we had with the control system. Today, disruptions are minimal and the trucks work very well. We can also follow them using PC View. And, as the factory is so large and hard to supervise, this is practical should one of them stop for any reason."

"We have got what we hoped for," he adds," I see a future of further expansion. Today, we have three AGVs and there is space for ten."