AutoGuide Reinvents Storage and Retrieval with a Flexible, Fast-Moving Alternative to Traditional ASRS

AutoGuide Mobile ASRS will deliver precision inventory management without complex, costly infrastructure installations.

Max N High Bay In Environment
AutoGuide Mobile Robots

AutoGuide Mobile Robots announced the AutoGuide Mobile AutonomousStorage and Retrieval System (Mobile ASRS), reinventing traditional automated storage and retrieval systems to deliver a cost- effective option for warehouses and manufacturing facilities of all sizes. 

“It’s time for ASRS to be untethered, autonomous and accessible for all warehouses and manufacturing facilities,” said Rob Sullivan, president & CEO, AutoGuide. “With our Mobile ASRS, what used to be automated and heavy is now autonomous and light. Mobile ASRS can be rolled out in a matter of weeks—not months—and bring autonomous efficiency to smaller footprints across the facility floor, from staging and buffering zones to lineside. This can lead to an extremely fast ROI.”  

Large, high-revenue facilities that move thousands of pallets a day have increasingly installed ASRS solutions with proprietary racks, custom pallets and massive cranes. Typical deployments take one to two years. Smaller facilities that move less inventory recognize the efficiencies offered by ASRS but have been unable to justify the extremely high-cost and time-consuming deployment. 

Now, AutoGuide Mobile ASRS will deliver precision inventory management without complex, costly infrastructure installations. Mobile ASRS works with existing racking systems and pallets. In addition, AutoGuide AMRs bring facility-wide freedom to automation strategies, so facility managers don’t have to restrict storage and retrieval operations to specific, crane-only zones.

SurePath Enterprise software, included with Mobile ASRS, defines the most efficient travel route for each job. It also includes inventory management software that connects with existing warehouse management system (WMS) and inventory management applications to keep precise track of all inventory and facility-specific storage requirements.

“Human error in inventory management is both common and costly,” Sullivan said. “With Mobile ASRS, digital inventory control helps eliminate storage and retrieval errors—and the associated fines—in putaway, picking, and shipping processes.”

The AutoGuide Mobile ASRS Solution

To deploy AutoGuide Mobile ASRS, most operations will need:  

  • Their existing facility—no new racking systems, custom pallets or dedicated storage and retrieval zones required.
  • AutoGuide high-payload AMRs, selected based on unique facility needs. Choices include the MAX-N Pallet Stacker, the MAX-N Tugger, and AutoGuide’s newest AMR (also announced today), the MAX-N High Bay autonomous forklift designed to lift payloads as heavy as 2,400 pounds to a maximum height of 36 feet.
  • SurePath Enterprise fleet control software, which connects with the facility WMS and inventory management applications to view orders received and keep exact track of all the inventory throughout the facility.

With traditional ASRS technology, material at the receiving dock is transported by a manually operated forklift to a conveyor system, which then delivers the material into the ASRS infrastructure. With AutoGuide Mobile ASRS, once the material comes off the truck, a collaborative team of AMRs—connected to detailed inventory storage processes—takes over to get the material exactly where it belongs.

Modular AMRs Transform to Tackle the Task at Hand 

AutoGuide’s innovative, patent-pending MAX-N System is designed to maximize fleet flexibility, uptime, and ROI. The AutoGuide MAX-N Base AMR is compatible with an array of high-payload adapters. A single Base AMR can be converted to a pallet stacker, tugger, or high bay forklift as facility needs change.  

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