Despite rising interest
in automated truck
loading/unloading
equipment, adoption
has been sluggish to
date. There are three
reasons for that,
experts say.
A NEAR FULL-EMPLOYMENT ECONOMY IS MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO
find warehouse help and driving more companies toward automated solutions
that can ease the labor crunch and speed operations throughout the facility. Such
solutions are becoming increasingly common for storing and retrieving inventory
as well as picking and packing orders, but there’s one area of the warehouse where
automated equipment is still pretty scarce: the loading dock.
The main reason? An inconsistent environment. Trucks and trailers come in
different shapes and sizes, and their contents often vary in weight, shape, and
size as well. On top of that, items may have been loaded inconsistently, making
it even more difficult to locate and extract specific boxes or pallets. It’s tough
to apply machine-based solutions in such a variable environment, according to
Tim Criswell, senior vice president of innovation and technology development
for Daifuku Wynright Corp., which makes and installs material handling solu-
BY VICTORIA KICKHAM, SENIOR EDITOR
AUTOMATION MATERIALHANDLING
For warehouse robotics,
the dock is the
final frontier
For warehouse robotics,
the dock is the
final frontier
