MHD MATERIALS HANDLING
FILLING THE GAPS WITH AUTOMATION In today’s contactless world, automation is set to play an increasingly critical role in warehousing and operations. Neil Beveridge, Product Manager – Automation at Toyota Material Handling Australia tells MHD why.
T
oyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has a number of different automated solutions. One particular vehicle that Neil is seeing an increase in interest in is the RAE
Autopilot Reach Truck. “One of the key benefits of this forklift, is that it is a hybrid manual/ automated forklift. It can be used in either fashion,” Neil says.
The RAE Autopiot requires minimum supervision.
28 | MHD JUNE 2020
The RAE Autopilot looks and feels like a regular Toyota reach truck, giving operators a sense of familiarity when they work with it for the first time. “We have found that sometimes operators are overwhelmed by automation. Sometimes they are expected to learn a completely new system when working with an autonomous forklift. A major benefit of this forklift is that its features and general look are similar to that of a manual forklift,” Neil says. A further benefit of investing in a hybrid forklift is if an operator comes across non-conforming pallets or loads. Usually this would present a problem for an entirely automated forklift as it may not be able to handle them, resulting in a delay in operations. However, with the Toyota RAE Autopilot Reach Truck, operators can override the system and step in when needed. “There’s greater flexibility with a forklift like this. You can troubleshoot and solve errors in a very timely manner by switching to manual if needed,” Neil says. The RAE Autopilot provides the opportunity to run a 24/7 operation, something which Neil says we are set to see as demand for e-commerce and online shopping continues to increase. “A lot of facilities are running eight to 12 hours a day. Within these shifts you see huge peaks in demand and volume. With automation, you have the opportunity to run operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This way you can flatten out your capacity so that you can get very consistent throughput levels. This makes it much easier to plan and predict the activities and capacity throughout your DC,” Neil says. Furthermore, the forklift offers safety benefits. “The forklifts have a personal protective system, enabling 360-degree
