AMR vs Traditional Automation: Best Solution For Material Handling Systems

Material handling systems in industrial manufacturing, including warehouse facilities, are undergoing rapid digitization and transformation in line with Industry 4.0. Automation of industrial machinery has significantly improved material handling efficiency and overall productivity in factories and warehouses. However, for automation to be a viable long-term solution, it must be practical, future-ready, and flexible. While automation has enhanced productivity, traditional fixed systems often fall short in terms of flexibility, scalability, and operational efficiency.

This blog covers how AMRs have evolved as the future-ready solution for material movement, outperforming traditional automation in every performance metric.

Industrial Machinery: Material Movement Requirements and Pain Points 

Movement of materials in factories and warehouses can be a tedious and error-prone process that is critical to production uptime and process efficiency.Traditional automation includes fixed material handling systems and conveyors, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), and overhead cranes.

Traditional Fixed Automation Pain Points: 

• High Setup Cost & Inflexibility: Fixed systems are challenging to reconfigure, need infrastructure modifications, and high up-front capital investment
• Limited Scalability: Scaling production or modifying the existing system is a high-cost, time-consuming process
• Downtime & Maintenance Challenges: Scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, mechanical breakdowns, part failures, and delays create operational downtime
• Complex Integration: Integrating with existing digital systems, including OT & IT platforms, is complex and creates data silos
• Inefficient Space Utilization: Limited floor space in the production area or storage due to fixed material movement tracks
• Inefficient Flow of Materials: Manual intervention and bottlenecks can slow down the production cycle
• Safety & Human Interaction Risks: Safety risks with human workers, in particular, in unmanned zones and shared spaces
• High Labor Dependency: Dependency on human operators to unload AGVs or guided vehicles & move materials manually, creating risk and labor costs

Introducing Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), The Game Changer in Material Handling

Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are intelligent, self-guided, self-navigating material handling robots that move materials within factories and warehouses in a flexible, accurate, and efficient manner. The AMRs offered by Hachidori Robotics, an industry-leading AMR Company in India, are designed to solve the pain points and limitations of legacy automation systems for material movement.

The Differentiating Advantages of AMRs in Material Handling:

• Wireless Natural Navigation: Patented wireless indoor positioning and navigation technology, no expensive installations or infrastructure, such as magnetic strips or QR codes
• Plug and Play Flexibility: Flexible material movement system that can be added to an existing layout with minimum effort and without a major production line stoppage
• Real-time Changes & Adaptability: Automatically re-route and adapt to dynamic workflow and schedule changes, including aisle blockages and layout changes
• End-to-End Fleet Management: Complete control and management of a fleet of AMRs through central analytics and seamless OT-platform integration
• Hygiene & Safety First: Minimal human intervention in the production zone to keep contamination and safety risks to an absolute minimum
• Easily Scalable: Rapid scalability of robotic material movement operations
• Multi-Industry & Versatile: Solutions available for various industries and applications, including automotive, FMCG, electronics, pharma, and general manufacturing

Hachidori Robotics – Key Performance Metrics for AMRs in Material Handling

• Patented Natural Navigation: 3 Patents in Indoor positioning and Navigation Technology
• ISO 9001:2015 Certified
• Deployment Speed: Faster than most automation systems with minimal training
• Cost Efficiency: Low acquisition and operating costs, as compared to traditional automation systems
• Uptime & Reliability: Robust and agile hardware design, with remote re-routing in case of breakdowns, minimal downtime, keeps material movement going without interruption
• Compatibility & Integration: Integrates completely with your manufacturing or warehousing equipment, process & IT systems to align with Industry 4.0 goals
• Customization & Different Models: Multiple models for various AMR applications with on-top load carriers, tugging, pallet movement, lift & move, dock & convey features.

AMRs for Material Handling: Industry and Use Cases

AMRs move materials through factories and warehouses in various industries. Hachidori Robotics provides suitable AMR options for various applications:

• AMR for Manufacturing: Automated movement of raw materials, work-in-progress, finished goods etc in factories. 
• AMR for Warehousing: Material movement solutions to automate inbound and outbound flow of goods and materials, optimize storage, and reduce manual material handling.
• AMR for Electronics: Clean, precise, reliable material movement for electronics manufacturing. 
• AMR for FMCG: Robust, scalable AMRs for fast-paced, high-volume operations.
• AMR for Pharmaceutical: High-hygiene and traceability in material movement for pharmaceuticals. 

Why AMRs Perform Better Than Traditional Automation?

1.Flexibility and Adaptability 

AMRs can navigate the shop-floor dynamically and change routes, schedules, and tasks as required. There is no need for expensive reconfiguration, as is the case with fixed automation.

2.Scalability 

The material movement solution can be rapidly scaled up (or down) by simply adding more (or reducing the number of) AMRs to the fleet.

3.Cost Efficiency 

AMRs, with lower setup and maintenance costs, provide a higher return on investment and outperform traditional automation solutions on every cost metric.

4.Seamless Integration 

AMRs with complete digital enablement and built-in analytics can capture real-time data and are integrated with both OT and IT systems to support Industry 4.0.

5.Enhanced Safety 

AMRs help automate material movement tasks and minimize the need for human intervention and contact in the production zone. Safety and hygiene are improved considerably, especially in critical industries such as pharmaceuticals and electronics.

6.Optimized Space Utilization 

AMRs, which can be used in both manned or unmanned gangways and aisles, free up floor space in factories and warehouses and enable better layout designs.

7.Reliable Performance 

Precision navigation and tracking using Hachidori’s patented technology deliver consistent material movement performance with highly accurate even under dynamic conditions, in contrast to manual movement by human workers.

AMRs: Beating Traditional Automation Across Key Pain Points 

Pain Point	Traditional Automation	AMR Solution (Hachidori)
High Setup Costs & Inflexibility	Requires major infrastructure	Plug-and-play, minimal disruption
Limited Scalability	Costly, slow to expand	Modular, easy fleet expansion
Downtime & Maintenance Issues	Frequent, costly	Robust, remote re-routing, minimal
Complex Integration	Difficult, limited data	Seamless OT/IT integration
Space Utilization Challenges	Bulky, fixed paths	Dynamic, optimized navigation
Inefficient Material Flow	Bottlenecks, manual steps	Real-time, automated movement
Safety & Human Interaction Risks	Higher risk, contamination	Automated, hygienic, safe
Rising Labor Dependency	Manual handling required	Reduced labor, automated processes

A Glimpse into the Best AMR Company in India

Founded and led by an engineering and product development team with decades of collective experience in AI, Machine Learning, and embedded systems, Hachidori Robotics is the best AMR Company in India.

Special Features That Make Hachidori Robotics Stand Out:

• Indian Ingenuity and World-Class Robotics: Designed for Indian factories & warehouses, with global standards
• Patented Indoor Navigation & Positioning: 3 Patents in our Indoor navigation and positioning technology
• Recognized by Industry: Finalist for Qualcomm’s Indian wireless hardware startup incubation programme
• Track Record: Successfully deployed AMRs across automotive, FMCG, electronics, pharmaceutical, and general manufacturing clients

We’ve covered the basics of industrial automation and some use cases for Autonomous Mobile Robots, especially the AMRs that Hachidori Robotics engineers, builds, and deploys. When it comes to selecting automation and material movement solutions for your factory or warehouse, your decision should factor in flexibility, cost and performance in today’s competitive business environment. 

Hachidori Robotics offers flexible, easy to implement AMRs that will help your operations improve performance and productivity across the board, reducing operating costs while preparing you for the future.