Then, the real work began, recalls Tim
Criswell, divisional president for
Wynright Robotics. “We collaborated with
Frito-Lay [to figure] out how to make that
work in their environment under their
economic conditions: how the cases
would come in, what rate we would have
to run at, what reliability we would have
to run, those sorts of things,” he says.
“When we finished that, we took those
things and did the detailed engineering
and implementing.”
The result was a sophisticated solution
called a robotic truck loader (RTL), which
builds half a stack outside the trailer then
drives into the trailer and gently sets it on
the floor. Each stack is built to half the trail-
er’s height. After positioning the first stack,
the robot places the second stack on top of
it, then works its way across the trailer.
Once the robot reaches the other end, the
system moves it back one case length and it
repeats the process.
The biggest challenge in turning the concept into reality was figuring out how to tell
the robot where it was inside the trailer.
“You can put a robot on a cart and drive it
into the trailer, but it’s never going to be in
exactly the same position,” says Criswell.
Wynright solved that by deploying
advanced sensor technology. “We used a
laser measurement system that would scan
the environment and create a cloud of data
points on the location of the trailer’s floor
and walls and the existing cases,” Criswell
explains. “The system then analyzes the
data, feeds that information to the robot,
and off you go!”
According to Criswell, the robot can cube
out the truck as well as—or better than—a
person can because it’s taller and has more
reach. That allows the robot to gently place
the final cases on the top of the stack
instead of having to toss them. Believing
they had another unique solution, Frito-
Lay and Wynright once again filed for a
joint patent.
Fisher reports that the RTLs have
brought about significant productivity
gains at the sites where they’ve been implemented, boosting case loading rates from
500 cases per labor-hour to over 1,100. The
gains in this case are due to efficiency, not
speed. An RTL can’t load a truck any faster
than a human can, but because a single
operator can control three robots at
once, it allows workers to be more
productive, says Fisher. It was this
ability for one person to operate
multiple units that justified the cost
of the automation for Frito-Lay,
Aurora says.
A BLENDED APPROACH
It’s worth noting that the introduction of the fully automated robotic
truck loader did not make its semiautomated predecessor obsolete.
Because the RTL only works with
products that have a standard footprint, its application is limited to
those DCs that handle nothing but
Lay’s potato chips and Doritos,
which are shipped in standard-size
returnable cartons. Facilities that
ship cookies, crackers, nuts, or
meats in addition to chips use the
semiautomated solution.
Regardless of where they’re
deployed, both solutions have been
a hit with workers, Fisher says.
“The technicians appreciate that
Frito-Lay is making their jobs bet-
ter and that this has been accom-
plished without a reduction in
manpower except by natural
turnover,” he reports. “They have
really embraced the technology.
Instead of standing in a trailer
throwing cases for seven hours a
day, they’re pressing buttons and
operating machinery. It’s a higher-
level [job] for them.”
Fisher does acknowledge that he’s
received one complaint. “I had one
guy come up to me and say, ‘I have a
problem. I find that I’m gaining a
little bit of weight because I’m not
as physically active as I used to be.’ I
said to him, ‘Well, are you exercis-
ing?’ He said, ‘I think I’m going to
have to start. At the end of the day,
I’m not diving into my chair any-
more. My energy level has really
improved.’” ;
Lifting and Positioning Heavy Loads
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