For the pharmaceutical company, the challenge in integrating the automated guided vehicle system (AGV) was to ensure an optimally timed material flow on sometimes narrow route areas and at the same time integrate prioritized transports of refrigerated goods into the new automation process.

AGV with roller conveyor: around 90 transports per hour

EK Robotics provides the solution with its X-Move series: in future, twelve mobile transport robots will take over the safe and efficient transportation of pallets with high-quality pharmaceuticals between the production areas in two-shift operation. Each X Move 1200 is equipped with a roller conveyor, handles around 90 transports per hour and is responsible for picking up and dropping off loads at 22 conveyor technology stations between the production and storage areas.

The new partner, for whom EK Robotics is implementing the transport solution, is already familiar with an automated guided vehicle system from a market competitor, which previously handled the intralogistics processes involved in pharmaceutical production. EK Robotics will now implement the new system step by step over several weekends so that ongoing production and operations are not interrupted.

More power with fewer vehicles

"With the new AGV, our customer is able to prioritize important refrigerated transports that were previously carried out manually. The new system is also much more flexible with a higher number of vehicles than before and communicates directly with the SAP system," explains Ronald Kretschmer, CSO at EK Robotics. Initially, 13 transport robots were planned for this application, but the AGV experts were able to reduce the ideal number of vehicles for the overall system from 13 to 12 X-Move units during the project planning phase by carrying out a material flow simulation.

In Switzerland, the new partner is a major pharmaceutical manufacturer and can look back on a century-long history in the pharmaceutical industry. The driverless transport system from EK Robotics now enables the customer to link different production and logistics areas even more efficiently and automatically and is a key factor for sustainable profitability and site security.