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36 DC VELOCITY APRIL 2017 www.dcvelocity.com
based systems integrator Intelligrated, a unit of Honeywell
International Inc.
Intelligrated offers an end-to-end solution called “Iris,”
which Trice said provides customers with a support “
road-map,” something sorely needed by businesses with expanding DC footprints. Dematic has also established a “managed
services” unit, run by Sermersheim, dedicated to analyzing
systems and equipment, and to identifying potential problems before they occur.
Integrators are training non-techs to handle prob-
lems that don’t require highly skilled hands. For exam-
ple, Conshohocken, Pa.-based systems integrator Invata
Intralogistics Inc. trains customers on its systems so they
can provide support on their own, according to Walter
High, vice president of marketing. The objective, said High,
is to allow customers to self-diagnose and repair when pos-
sible so they “do not need to call on Invata for a majority of
support-related issues.”
Raising worker proficiency in troubleshooting physical
systems, or even helping with software repair, allows com-
panies to solve minor technical problems on their own
and in real time, material handling executives said. This
frees up the so-called multicraft technicians—folks who
can perform virtually every job in the warehouse and who
are in the greatest demand—to focus on more challenging
tasks. It also builds marketable skills for warehouse workers
whose jobs might otherwise be replaced by automation,
according to executives.
Industrial truck manufacturer Seegrid offers a two-day
training program that certifies manufacturing employees
to operate, repair, and manage fleets of its next-generation
autonomous vision-guided vehicles (VGVs). The program trains customers’ employees to handle routine tasks
without the aid of a Seegrid technician, enabling them to
develop skills as “robot fleet managers,” according to Jeff
Christensen, vice president of products at Pittsburgh-based
Seegrid.
“This shift in responsibility is empowering manufacturing employees to have an ownership stake in the adoption
of this new technology and will only continue to create
more opportunities within the workforce,” Christensen
said in an e-mail.
One untapped resource is the real estate and logistics
services giants like Los Angeles-based CBRE Group Inc.,
Chicago-based JLL Inc., and New York-based Cushman &
Wakefield Inc. Until now, businesses have outsourced general building maintenance services to the real estate giants,
said Steve Harrington, industry liaison for the National
Center for Supply Chain Automation. Now, however, there
is a push by customers to convince the giants to provide
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