accommodate items of all shapes and sizes, including the
stacked racks, Buscher says. Working together, the three
companies and Topper, a local fabricator that makes
load-handling frames for Meiji Corp., developed a version
with pins in the corners to anchor the stacked racks and a
lip to prevent loads from hanging over the sides. The frame,
which can be loaded and unloaded with a forklift at either
end, also includes tapered load-placement guides and a
“cow catcher” in front to prevent a forklift operator from
getting caught between the frame and the AGC.
Because the carts would have to climb the graded ramp
from the plant to the DC while carrying heavy loads, it was
necessary to boost their power and drive capacity. On the
return trip, the issue was how to safely bring the carts to a
controlled stop, without toppling the load and in compliance with safety standards, while traveling downhill at 130
feet per minute. Modifications to the software—Popowski
compares it with the kind of controls in antilock brakes—
ensured safe stops, even at the carts’ maximum speed. The
sliding load problem was solved by applying a nonskid
rubber coating of the type used in the beds of pickup trucks
to the load-handling platform. (The lining has the added
advantages of dampening noise and reducing wear on both
the AGC and the loads.)
On average, a cart is loaded and sent to the plant every
40 to 50 seconds. Given that pace, the question was how to
charge their batteries without creating a bottleneck at the
charging stations and delaying dispatch. Meiji’s solution:
parallel fast-charging lanes, so that AGCs can pull out
unimpeded when they’re called. To ensure they are quickly
yet properly charged, the carts have a faster-charging, high-er-grade battery than is typical in vehicles of their type.
FASTER AND MORE EFFICIENT
The way things work now is a far cry from the previous process. Today, the manufacturing plant is broken down into
seven drop and load zones, each of which handles products
and materials with a particular load profile. When a forklift
operator in the factory requires, say, a particular type of
empty rack, he or she presses a button associated with that
type of rack on a forklift-mounted human-machine interface (HMI) device (which is similar to an oversized tablet
computer) and specifies the number of units required. The
system signals the appropriate lift truck driver in the DC
that, for instance, two Type A racks are needed in Zone 1.
The driver in the DC pulls the racks and brings them to a
common staging area where the AGCs are loaded.
Continuing the example, when an empty AGC pulls up
at the DC’s loading area, the forklift driver uses the HMI to
confirm that the required loads are on board and releases
