A case for driverless lift trucks

Moving along the narrow aisles following inductive guide wires set into the floor, the automated Linde trucks are fitted with an E&K laser-based navigation system so they can free-range off the wires into other areas of the warehouse. In this case, the trucks guide themselves by triangulation using reflectors mounted on the warehouse walls. Data communication between AGVs and the E&K controller is via a wireless LAN. The trucks are also equipped with telescopic forks and pallet profile control, which checks that the dimensions of the pallets coming from production are correct and therefore that they can be stored in the automated warehouse. Germain Ghys, a Samsonite employee with 28 years' experience and currently logistics manager at Oudenaarde, commented, "Our ever increasing range of plastic suitcases and trolleys was becoming a logistical challenge. "To cope with the multitude of products, we rented additional storage space in the immediate vicinity some years ago. However, this solution was not cost-effective, was too slow and inflexible, and in any case had reached its capacity." Pictured: A manually driven Linde electric counterbalance truck (left) brings a pallet from the Samsonite production area to be stored in the VNA warehouse by one of the three AGVs (right), each of which is a Linde K-range lift truck automated by E&K.