An Automatic Guided Vehicle (AGV) system, consisting of four electric lift decks and six electric fork outrigger AGVs, updated an existing Blank Handling AGV system tailored to meet the material handling needs at a major automotive manufacturing plant.  The system facilitates the movement of blank pallets with and without raw blank material.  

The AGV control system is responsible for communicating with and controlling all elements in the integrated AMHS. This includes vehicles and other system components and interfaces, such as conveyors and lifts. The JBT AGV system operates as a fleet of taxis, each of which delivers blank pallets from pickup locations to subsequent drop-off points. The plant’s WMS system interfaces with JBT’s  AGV control software and sends and receives messages between the vehicles and AGV control system. 
The Blank Handling AGV System automatically transports loaded blank pallets from the blank AS/RS to each of the four presses and returns to  the AS/RS with an empty pallet. The End of Dog Line AGV System automatically transports manually loaded parts racks from the end of a press line to the full rack drop-off conveyor, retrieves an empty rack at the empty rack pick-up conveyor, and returns to the end of the same press line with the empty pallet.

These AGVs not only increase storage and retrieval efficiency, but they also reduce labor costs, improve safety, eliminate material handling related product and facility damage, and increase productivity.