It’s a good time to catch up on capital investment
April 1st 2011 With augmented reality and automated order picking receiving honourable mentions, this issue of Handling & Storage Solutions is particularly brimming with new technology.
Toyota’s Automated Order Picking solution features excellent sensing and IT technology and was recently on show to journalists at Toyota’s factory in Sweden. If anything, Toyota downplayed the technology side, instead emphasising the benefits to be gained - it can in some applications increase picking efficiency by 40%. Toyota was careful in its pitch, stressing the technology wouldn’t be the best option for every pick and highlighting how it saw mixed automated and manual truck environments as optimal for many customers.
Equally interesting, although more speculative, is Doosan’s Concept Forklift, which floats the possibility of much more in-cab IT in forklifts. The idea is this will augment the reality experienced by the driver and improve performance.
Add to that the CeMAT exhibition on the horizon and it is a good time for selecting cutting edge materials handling technology.
Not that you always need cutting edge. If bread and butter solutions work, why spend extra?
Whether the product is at the cutting edge or was there 50 years ago, you still need to apply robust criteria when buying. Be warned about the dangers of buying products that look great in theory but don’t quite fit with you.
Also beware ‘Mr Sunshine’ type salesmen, who see no potential downside to the equipment they are selling. Manufacturers and suppliers should be honest about their products, including their limitations. Buying and installing equipment is often a complex affair and it’s always a question of getting the right product for your business.
With this in mind, the advice from Bespoke Handling on safer manual handling products is interesting. They say you should always try before you buy to ensure the product is right for your company. Granted, it is not always possible to do this, but frankly the supplier that is willing to facilitate this wins some serious brownie points.
We could be entering a period of increased equipment investment for private firms in the UK. For one, investment has been at very low levels for the last few years and catch up is inevitable at some stage. Add to this the recent businessbenign budget and arguably there has been no better time for a generation to set up or expand a business, providing there is demand for your products and services, of course.
If you are getting ready to buy again after a period out of the game, remember to shop around and of course, where possible, try before you buy.
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Simon Duddy, Editor More articles from Handling & Storage Solutions: | 
