Signode expands autonomous mobile robot portfolio to advance end-of-line and warehouse automation
Signode, a global provider of transit packaging equipment, automation, materials, and aftermarket support solutions, announced this week an expanded portfolio of autonomous mobile robots [AMRs] designed to extend automation beyond the packaging line.
The expanded offering supports the movement of palletized loads throughout manufacturing and warehouse operations.
With configurations that include lifting robots, pallet trucks, counter-balanced forklifts, reach trucks, and stacker forklifts, the portfolio supports a range of pallet-handling requirements.
The AMR expansion also builds on Signode’s broader automation portfolio, connecting end-of-line packaging, palletizing, material handling, and warehouse technologies across the operation.
“End-of-line automation doesn’t stop once a product has been packaged and palletized,” said Vice President, Global Automation Shawn Semer. “That pallet still has to move through the facility and ultimately into storage or distribution. Expanding our AMR portfolio gives customers more ways to automate those movements and connect processes across their operation.”
Designed for pallet-transfer and lifting applications, the AMR portfolio gives manufacturers op-tions for moving and lifting palletized loads across a range of weight and handling requirements. Robots can navigate without fixed lines or magnetic strips and reroute around obstructions as they move through the facility.
The portfolio can also be scaled as operational needs evolve, giving manufacturers the flexibility to expand autonomous pallet movement over time. Because AMRs are often deployed as fleets rather than as individual machines, manufacturers can add capacity and capabilities as material-handling requirements change. For organizations operating multiple facilities, the portfolio can also support a more consistent approach to automation across locations.
Connecting the End of Line to Automated Storage
The expanded AMR offering complements Signode’s existing StorFast automated storage and retrieval system [ASRS] and broader warehouse automation portfolio, with more than 800 vehi-cles deployed across over 80 locations globally. StorFast ASRS uses powered carts to automatically move pallets into and out of storage positions and can be combined with material handling and logistics management technologies to support warehouse operations.
Within that environment, AMRs can help automate pallet setup and delivery to StorFast ASRS, supporting the movement of completed loads from end-of-line packaging and production areas into automated storage. The expanded lifting capabilities also give manufacturers additional options for moving palletized loads from floor-level transport to elevated storage and dynamic handling applications.
AMR deployments are also designed to integrate warehouse management and fleet management software to help coordinate robot activity and material movement across the facility.
Together with Signode’s robotic palletizing and depalletizing, conveying, packaging, and ware-house automation technologies, the expanded AMR portfolio gives manufacturers additional ways to connect how products are packaged, palletized, moved, and stored.
“One customer has integrated more than 17 robots within a single warehouse,” Semer said. “That type of deployment shows how an operation can grow from targeted automation into a larger fleet as requirements change.”
The expanded offering is focused primarily on pallet-based systems supporting a range of lifting and material-movement requirements. Additional AMR configurations may also be considered based on application requirements.
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