Evri Group is looking to lead the way in innovation and automation as “the UK’s premier parcel delivery company” and has taken the next step on its robotics journey as it has announced it is trialling two automated guided vehicles (AGVs) at its Rugby hub, marking the first step in what Evri is calling “under the roof” robotics.
Currently, Evri has workers moving cages or pallets with cardboard in from one end of the hub to another all day, every day.
The introduction of these robotic vehicles means they can pick up the load, and as a growing business, investing in robotics like this allows existing workers to be redistributed to more productive and meaningful tasks to meet the growing demands of increased parcel volumes as well as being upskilled to become robot handlers.
These automated power pallets have a built-in LiDAR (Light Detection Ranging) to detect ceiling mounted sensors which guide and map vehicle’s route.
The AGV will be programmed to follow the route from A to B and scheduled stops can be included if needed and on a continuous loop allowing workers to load or unload manually along the way. It carries a load of up to 1.5 tonnes. They can also be switched from automated to manual if required.
The announcement comes following successful trials of a robotic delivery dog last August as well as an on-going trial of autonomous deliveries in Barnsley, the UK’s official and only “Tech Town”, where Evri’s largest hub is based.
Adrian Berry, innovation delivery manager at Evri Group, said: “This trial marks the first of what we hope will be many, exploring how robotics can support our hub and depot operations as well as the colleagues that work there.
“We’re constantly looking at innovative ways to improve and enhance what we do, and we’ve got more exciting things we’ll be looking at this year.”
Lee Moss, head of hub operations at Evri Group, said: “I’m excited to see the AGVs in action and to see the benefits they can have on production.
“Some of the work our colleagues carry out can be very monotonous, our hub is incredibly large and it takes a long time walking back and forth carrying cardboard for example, things like this will help our people on the tasks they don’t love so they can spend time on work they enjoy.”
