Read any article on automated warehouse vehicles, and it’s pretty easy to see there is a lot of hype. Although automation in automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs)—my specialty—have come a long way, they are not replacing all warehouse workers.

In an interview with editor in chief Dirk Dusharme, host of Quality Digest’s QDL, the conversation extended beyond the automation hype and into how automation and various technologies like AGVs impact workers. Companies that manufacture these increasingly sophisticated equipment must consider the social impacts.

AGVs are getting smarter

AGV technology has advanced since the 1950s. The state of the art is being pushed by sensor technology, such that today’s vehicles do more than simply follow a line on the floor. Technology has advanced to a point where rigid infrastructure is no longer needed to tell the vehicle where it is or understand how to get from point to point. That has advanced, and it continues to advance.

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