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April
2004
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New
breed of AGVs letting users cast old limitations aside
Staff
Report
AGVs
aren’t what they used to be.
And
it’s about time, say suppliers and newspapers using automated guided vehicles,
sometimes known as self-guided vehicles, to help ferry newsprint rolls and
pallets around production floors.
Self-guided
vehicle servicing a rack system.
Photo: FMC Technologies
Clearly,
today’s AGVs, boasting laser-guided technologies and open-control systems
based on Microsoft operating software, are much more versatile than their
counterparts of even five years ago, suppliers say. At the same time, costs have
decreased, particularly for software, making AGVs economical even for smaller
newspapers.
“Many
of these systems are now 10 and 20 years old and the technologies have advanced
so rapidly” said Pat Conway, director of sales at FMC Technologies Inc.
“When the original systems were put in they required (expensive and
proprietary) computers. Now users are getting the same capabilities of an SGV,
but through mediums much more supportable and reliable. And the machines
themselves are much more sophisticated.”
Upgraded
fleet
The
St. Louis Post-Dispatch last year had FMC upgrade its fleet of SGVs,
retrofitting them with new controls and upgraded software, said Blake Dickie,
director of printing operations.
“We
had the same vehicles that were originally installed 14
years ago,” he said. “The system was old and extremely difficult to
get support and parts.”
FMC
replaced the proprietary controls with upgraded software and also converted the
vehicles to laser-guided control. “They came in, set up the new system and
turned it over to us,” Dickie said.
The
SGVs are now shuttling newsprint rolls back and forth at the Post-Dispatch’s
Pulitzer Publishing Center in suburban St. Louis. Dickie said the newspaper now
anticipates further mining the capabilities of the SGVs, obtaining data about
web breaks and consumption reports.
“We
had to track these manually before. Now we can get this data automatically,”
he said.
The
ability of AGVs to collect data and pass it along to manufacturing and
enterprise resource systems is one of the most compelling reasons newspapers are
leaning toward upgrading their existing systems, Conway said.
“The
systems tie into existing press and postpress systems and now newspapers can
create reports and do what they want” to track various production operations,
from printing to delivery, he said.
Tracking
data
Trinity
Mirror Plc, another FMC customer, is tracking a wide range of activities using
data collected from its fleet of SGVs. Every step, from the time the roll is
delivered until it’s stripped, loaded and consumed, is monitored by the
vehicles and then distributed to Trinity Mirror managers. “It’s giving them
the option to track everything from one system as opposed to multiple
systems,” Conway said.
Mid-sized
newspapers, meanwhile, are also examining how they can exploit the capabilities
of more modern AGVs.
One
such daily, The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa, Calif., expects to have its
retooled AGVs up and running this month, according to John Moore, press manager.
The
two units, manufactured by AGV Products Inc., replace three older, wire-based
FMC vehicles that originally went into service 18 years ago. The Press Democrat
spent $450,000 on the project.
“Our
shop was originally set up with AGVs,” Moore said. “We have 45-inch diameter
rolls, which are on the high side for people to be pushing around.”
Better
tools
The
legacy AGVs, although sophisticated for their time, had outlasted their
usefulness, Moore said. With the advent of laser-guided control and more
powerful Windows-based software, upgrading the vintage AGVs made even more
sense.
“We
saw what was available and what we needed, and we also recognized the
improvements (AGVPI) made to the system. We felt with these changes we could get
away with two (units) instead of three.”
The
Press Democrat (daily, 87,261; Sunday, 95,387) made some accommodations in
preparation for the delivery of the new AGVs, including moving roll delivery
spurs to the drive side of its Goss press, Moore said. That cut the vehicle path
by 66 percent.
New
controls will also let Moore interface the vehicles with The Press Democrat’s
legacy prep and stripper stations with very little extra work. The newspaper can
also alter the laser-guided vehicle’s paths by merely inputting new guide path
parameters.
Finally,
Moore plans to use the AGVs to obtain more operational and performance data.
“This will give us a way to more accurately value our consumption and measure
our waste,” he said. “It will also give us sophisticated web break
reporting.”
| AGV
impacting other departments
Automation
suppliers say an improving advertising climate is leading newspapers to
not only upgrade their aging automated guided vehicle systems but to
also determine how they can use automation to satisfy demands in other
parts of their operations.
“We’re
seeing a lot of customer interest now,” said Pat Conway, director of
sales at FMC Technologies Inc. “Papers are either looking at a phased
update or a complete replacement of their original systems.”
At
HK Systems Inc., customers are examining how they can deploy automated
systems to handle such operations as packaging and distribution, said
Doug Emmons, senior account manager.
To
that end, the firm recently unveiled the HK 3000 RF, an automated
rotating fork unit that can be used by newspapers to manage pallets
loaded with freestanding inserts.
“It
can be used in existing facilities to eliminate the need for forklift
drivers to run around through the racks, “Emmons said. “You’re
basically getting the advantage of an automated storage and retrieval
system with the benefit (afforded by) manned narrow-aisle forklifts.”
With
demands for accountability growing among advertisers, using AGVs to
generate that data is a logical extension of their capabilities, Emmons
said.
“Advertisers
want verification. And newspapers want to ensure that pallets are
received, stored” and processed correctly. “It’s a customized
warehouse management system for the newspaper industry,” he said.
Transbotics,
meantime, which has made AGVs for other vendors, is now offering an
automated roll handling vehicle under its own nameplate, said Randy
Jennings, general manager, business development.
The
Roll Handling LGV sports a new design that makes it capable of handling
loads of varying sizes with little to no product damage, he said. It
also boasts a sealed lead battery that uses very little current and
doesn’t require the deployment of multiple battery charging stations.
“It’s better utilization of energy all the way around,” he said.
It’s
aimed at mid-sized and smaller users.
Don
Holdenrid, director of sales and marketing at AGV Products Inc., said
newspapers are anxious to swap their obsolete automated systems.
“I
am talking to quite a few (newspapers) about this,” he said. Replacing
control systems to enable the vehicles to follow lasers instead of wires
is one priority; the other, he said, is to upgrade software. “The
software is so much more intelligent. Reports such as web breaks can be
done automatically.”
The
widening of the production window, meanwhile, also means newspapers want
to use their AGVs for myriad tasks, he said.
“There’s
no reason not to expand (AGV responsibilities) from roll handling to
insert handling and mailroom operations. Getting them working 24 hours a
day is something newspapers want,” Holdenrid said, adding that the end
of wire-guided controls makes AGVs more versatile.
“It’s
a bigger bang for the buck.”
-Staff
Report
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