Munich Hundreds of mobile transport robots are on the move in the new digitally networked flagship factory “Factory 56” from Mercedes. In Sindelfingen, for example, the autonomous machines bring the engines and seats for the new S-Class to the assembly line. There are no collisions, the robots are networked as a swarm.
“It can give the whole market a boost if it turns out that such a large fleet is working smoothly,” says Michael Wolter, managing partner of Safelog. The robot manufacturer supplied almost 500 robots for the “Factory 56” alone. In total, Daimler has around 2500 Safelog units in use around the world.
Initially, autonomous transport robots were slow to establish themselves in the industry. The prices were high, and integration into the logistics and production processes was difficult.
The fact that the breakthrough comes later than some had hoped is also due to the fact that the first pilot projects by other providers in the automotive industry had also failed. “The requirements were often far too complex,” says Wolter. Highly complex custom-made products were constructed for each project – which were then difficult to integrate into the processes.
The great growth attracts investors
Safelog, on the other hand, is in the process of industrializing the production of mobile transport robots. “For us, it’s no longer ‘Jugend forscht’, but series production,” says partner Wolter. The company can build 2500 mobile transport robots per year in one-shift operation. All models are based on a platform that is being further developed in an evolutionary manner.
The result is a kind of workhorse – reliable, but without unnecessary technological gimmicks at prices between around 20,000 and 50,000 euros. “The machines have to pay for themselves within one to two years for the customer,” says Managing Director Michael Reicheicher. “Otherwise it doesn’t make sense.”
Safelog is already one of the big players in the industry.
(Photo: Safelog)
By entering into large-scale production, autonomous mobile transport robots could now be used more in many large factories. A “mobile revolution” is even expected at the global robotics association IFR. Sales of mobile transport robots for logistics will increase by an average of 31 percent per year between 2020 and 2023 to around 160,000 machines. “We expect exciting progress in the next decade,” said IFR President Milton Guerry. The robots would become lighter and more flexible and would increasingly come into contact with people.
The high growth figures also make the industry interesting for investors. According to market researchers at Geek, manufacturers of mobile transport robots raised around $ 470 million worldwide last year. This year there should be a decline, but that should change again quickly after the corona crisis.
Strategic investors were also active. The energy and automation technology group ABB took over the provider Asti Mobile Robotics. This shows that the traditional manufacturers of industrial robots are also taking the segment increasingly seriously. According to forecasts by LogisticsIQ, the installed base could increase from 64,000 mobile transport systems in the past year to 890,000 units in 2026.
Arculus develops robots – and the software
One problem up to now has been that autonomous transport robots are often poorly integrated into the processes. It often only helps to a limited extent if the machines drive through the halls independently, but have to be loaded and unloaded by hand, for example.
Founder Wolter once did an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic.
(Photo: Safelog)
This is exactly where Arculus comes in, which has just been taken over by Jungheinrich. So far, individual processes in production have been highly automated, said Arculus founder Fabian Rusitschka. “But the linking of the individual steps does not work.”
It is crucial to bring the production and logistics flows together in the same system. Arculus therefore not only develops robots, but also the software to control them and integrate them into the manufacturing processes. It helps that in many places the classic assembly line is being replaced by modular islands that can be operated by driverless transport systems.
Jungheinrich has also recognized the trend and has therefore taken over the Munich start-up. “Together with Arculus, we are leveraging growth synergies in automated logistics,” said Jungheinrich boss Lars Brzoska.
The integration of robots in the intralogistics processes offers customers “a new level of flexibility, control and higher efficiency”. Jungheinrich already had a number of driverless transport systems in its portfolio, for example for warehousing.
How Safelog became successful
Safelog is already one of the big players in the industry. According to industry estimates, the company’s sales have increased by a double-digit percentage to more than 34 million euros in 2021. Incoming orders have even increased by half. “We want to maintain the rate of growth in the next few years,” says Managing Director Reicheicher. This year, the chip and material shortage had slowed down, but a number of large new customers have been won.
Larger numbers of mobile transport robots, in particular, are likely to have been built by Amazon so far. The mail order company uses tens of thousands of robots in its mail order warehouses. In 2012, the Americans took over storage robot manufacturer Kiva Systems for $ 775 million. However, Amazon only uses the robots for itself, so they are no competition for Safelog.
Founder Wolter once did an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic and, after various professional positions in the electronics sector, worked for Deutsche Systemtechnik (DST), a split-off armaments division of Philips. When it went bankrupt, the now 72-year-old was busy with an important order for the automotive test benches. He managed to take over this department from the bankruptcy and continue it.
Safelog quickly achieved success with sensor-based systems for order picking. Wolter developed a patent-protected pick-by-light system that uses a laser scanner to check whether an employee is taking the correct part from the rule. The shelf compartment is identified by an optical compartment display.
This resulted in the projector trolley, a self-driving, automatic “shopping cart” for order picking that drives independently to the correct work position. A light spot shows which compartment the employee has to reach next. Many of these pick-by-light picking systems are also active at Daimler.
From there it was only one more step to a platform for driverless transport systems. Safelog now produces mobile robots in the fourth generation of devices. These are able to take on completely different transport tasks. Now that the automated guided vehicle systems are being manufactured in large numbers in a standardized manner, they could conquer more and more factories in the world. After a year of experience in “Factory 56”, Daimler has now also ordered these transport robots for the production of the E-Class.
More: Robot sales pick up again – record sales in sight.