Modern Materials Handling Looks at Egemin’s impact at Honda

May 3, 2011 - PRLog -- In the current issue of Modern Materials Handling, Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor reported that In 1963, Honda opened its first overseas factory to manufacture motorbikes. Over the years, the company’s business model has evolved to become an OEM supplier and spare parts company. Parts are manufactured at various Honda plants then shipped to one centralized location for storage and distribution before going out to Honda dealers in the network. While consolidating storage and distribution into one centralized DC was a strategic business move, moving the parts presented a materials handling challenge.

Rogers also noted that Honda parts arrive at the distribution facility on a variety of carriers such as pallets, crates, trolleys and box pallets all with different dimensions. To handle the diversity, Honda chose a versatile automatic guided vehicle (AGV; Egemin Automation) system to transport product containers across inbound and outbound locations, and to intermediate storage locations.

Since the AGV system was installed, Honda has a more orderly transport of goods throughout the distribution center and a significant reduction in damaged goods due to the precision fork placement and controlled travel speeds.

The automated process starts when the inbound operator scans the load type and the load’s position.  Then the system determines the zone to which the load must arrive. This triggers the AGV control system to send an AGV to the designated location.

The control system also sends the correct parameters to the AGV for accurate fork positioning. The AGV forks can be individually adjusted to fit the various fork pockets of the carriers so it efficiently moves product, regardless of whether the carrier is a pallet, crate, trolley or box pallet.

Honda has also experienced improvements to personnel productivity. Prior to the AGV system, lift truck drivers delivered racks of products, which were large and required a number moves per hour to keep up. Since installing the AGVs, Honda has been able to reassign drivers to new positions and let the AGVs handle the long distance transport of goods.


Egemin Automation Inc. (http://www.egeminusa.com) is the leading manufacturer of AGVs and Warehouse Management Systems since 1976. Egemin is a worldwide organization operating on six continents. Egemin’s Center for AGV Excellence is located in Holland, Michigan, where it employs all disciplines as the AGV industry leader. All AGV technologies including design, software, and support, are developed and owned by Egemin. Over 5,000 AGVs have been manufactured and installed; many are being used by Fortune 500 companies.


Egemin Automation
www.egeminusa.com
Dave Noble
Director of Marketing and Communications
PR@egeminusa.com
1-616-393-0101