TWO North East automation companies are working with an industry giant in a market that could be worth more than £2billion.
Gateshead-based automation experts Parmley Graham has partnered with the software arm of engineering giant Siemens to target a £2.3bn market making AGVs – automated guided vehicles.
The robots are capable of carrying components, products, and equipment across factories and distribution facilities and are particularly in demand with the trend towards online retail and supply chain pressures posed by the pandemic.
Parmley Graham is working with Siemens to supply hardware and materials, and source third-party parts for the AGVs, while Sunderland integration and robotics specialist AR Controls is designing and building the equipment.
The technology includes a standardised system that means the AGVs can be tailored to a variety of uses across different industries.
The global market for this type of robot is expected to almost double by 2028.
The partnership has already successfully supplied AGV kits to a major car manufacturer with a factory in the North.
Nick Wilson, managing director at Parmley Graham said: “We work in partnership with organisations across a wide spectrum of industries.
“This collaboration helped produce the AGVs for a burgeoning need to meet efficiencies in warehousing, intralogistics, and logistics across many industries.
“Our experienced engineering team regularly delivers innovative solutions, training, and support that is tailored to the diverse needs of our varied customer base.
“We take our initiatives seriously and have appointed a project manager to oversee the production of the AGVs.
“We will be able to deliver bespoke solutions for AGVs to a range of customers in the pharmaceutical, food and drink and logistic industries.”
Andy Ramsey, company founder and managing director at AR Controls said: “We have a portfolio of automotive manufacturers for who we provide services like sensing, position control, visual inspection, machine safety, audio-indent, robotics, drives and programmable logic control.
“Partnering with Siemens and Parmley Graham to produce AGVs is a very exciting project for us.
“We look forward to a fruitful outcome of this alliance.
At the heart of the innovation is the Siemens AGV kit, which includes SIMOVE, a standardised system platform for AGVs to suit any customer across industries, and the Simatic micro-drive, a versatile servo drive system used extensively when building AGVs that can also cover a wide range of applications.
Siemens says the pandemic has forced manufacturers into rethinking their warehousing processes, how goods are moved internally within factories and how to deal with labour shortages.
Brian Holliday, managing director, Siemens Digital Industries, said: “The UK supply chain market is growing exponentially, and most manufacturers are now investing in technologies to boost their own logistics.
AGVs are a crucial part of this investment.
“Partners that have a legacy in automation were well equipped with the right technologies and experience to deliver AGVs to the automotive manufacturer.
“It is also a testimony that given an opportunity, innovation can help generate new income streams for businesses in these testing times.”
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