After seeing a computer simulation, Frito-Lay
gave Wynright the go-ahead. 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,
“When we finished that, we
took those things and did
the detailed engineering
and implementing.”
The result was a sophisti-
cated 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
trailer’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 sen-
sor 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 infor-
mation 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 solu-
tions have been a hit with workers, Fisher says. “The
technicians appreciate that Frito-Lay is making their
jobs better and that this has been accomplished with-
out 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 exercising?’ He
said, ‘I think I’m going to have to start. At the end of
the day, I’m not diving into my chair anymore. My
energy level has really improved.’” ●
