Vecna and UCA are working together on autonomous lift trucks. Source: Vecna
WALTHAM, Mass. — Vecna Robotics, a provider of autonomous material handling solutions, said today that it is teaming with UniCarriers Americas Corp., or UCA, a maker of material handling equipment that is a subsidiary Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Vecna Robotics and UCA are collaborating on a line of autonomous material handling vehicles for warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing environments.
Vecna Robotics plans to integrate its autonomous navigation technology, learning algorithms, and workflow orchestration software into UCA vehicles, turning them into autonomous mobile robots. These AMRs will be capable of moving bulk material through dynamic warehouse environments.
The new line will also feature autonomous tuggers and lift trucks capable of vertical and horizontal movements with material up to 10,000 pounds. Renderings of the new autonomous pallet jack will be on display at Vecna Robotics HQ Reveal and Insider Showcase on Sept. 26.
UCA and Vecna offering to include fleet management
“Vecna Robotics’ collaboration with UCA has come at the perfect time,” said Michael Baier, director of hardware engineering at Vecna Robotics. “Our customer base is rapidly expanding. Companies are no longer asking themselves if they should automate; they are now looking at when to automate and the sooner, the better. Partnering with an industrial vehicle design expert like UCA helps us provide our customers with exceptional products and meet demand without skipping a beat.”
The fleet with UCA will also feature Vecna’s pivot.al orchestration system. Pivot.al is an AI-based fleet manager that distributes and redistributes work amongst humans, robots, and standard automation based on capabilities, location, and operational priorities, said Vecna. Pivot.al redesigns workflows, mixing and matching assignments based on the unique capabilities of humans and robots in real-time to ensure current operational processes align with current operational needs, according to the company.
“Customer’s expectations are changing too fast. Companies that restrict themselves to a specific workflow, robot or AGV are not optimizing productivity efficiently,” said Brian Markison, senior director of national accounts and AGV sales at UCA. “This strategic partnership helps Vecna Robotics and UCA reach a very important shared objective — providing customers flexible and cost-efficient material handling solutions that reliably gets goods out the door no matter how demand or markets change.
About Vecna Robotics
Vecna Robotics delivers autonomous material handling solutions via self-driving vehicles powered by its proprietary software, pivot.al orchestration engine, and 24/7 customer-service team. Vecna said its solutions deliver value for customers in the distribution, warehousing, and manufacturing sectors by automating cross-docking, line-side delivery, replenishment, case-picking, kitting, goods-to-person, person-to-good, and oversized/non-standard SKU delivery. Vecna claimed that its technology goes beyond traditional automation and focuses on maximizing human and robot capability to create fulfilling jobs, increase productivity, and encourage innovation.
About UCA
UniCarriers Americas designs, manufactures and supports material handling equipment that it said offers second-to-none reliability, higher productivity, and lower total operational costs. UCA has seven factory-owned locations across Wisconsin and New England — Capital Equipment and Handling and New England Industrial Truck. UCA sells and supports UniCarriers-branded forklifts and supports legacy products under the Nissan Forklift, TCM, Atlet, and Barrett brands. Part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and headquartered in Marengo, Ill., UCA has a network of more than 130 authorized dealerships with nearly 250 locations across North, Central, and South America.
The Robot Report is launching the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum, which will be on Dec. 9-10 in Santa Clara, Calif. The conference and expo will focus on improving the design, development, and manufacture of next-generation healthcare robots. Learn more about the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum, and registration is now open.
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