Seegrid AMRs Transform Material Handling for Sumitomo Drive Technologies

Leading AMR Provider Delivers Reliable Material Flow with Rapid ROI for Automotive Component Manufacturer’s Expanding Facilities

PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seegrid Corporation, the leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling, announced that Sumitomo Drive Technologies has selected Seegrid’s mobile automation solutions for its expanding manufacturing operations. The power transmission component manufacturer chose Seegrid’s Palion™ AMR fleet and Fleet Central™ enterprise software to support autonomous hauling of parts and equipment between its existing 250,000 assembly facility and its new 100,000 square foot warehouse. Seegrid’s customer portfolio of global brands in logistics, e-commerce, and manufacturing utilize the company’s automation products and services to propel corporate initiatives, reduce lean waste, and build operational resiliency.

“Reliability is a critical factor in getting parts to the line—the initial Seegrid Palion Tow Tractor workflow is 3,000 feet round trip, running up to 30-40 times per day,” said Tony Barlett, Vice President of Business Operations at Sumitomo Drive Technologies. “Seegrid had us up and running in three days—fully trained and confident, our operators immediately identified more opportunities to leverage the technology.”

“Seegrid combines proven technology with expert automation services to ensure our customers’ automation initiatives deliver ROI from day one,” said Jim Rock, Chief Executive Officer at Seegrid. “Sumitomo is well-positioned to safely and continuously optimize, adapt, and expand their use of mobile automation as their material handling requirements scale.”

Seegrid’s entire fleet of intelligent AMRs navigate dynamic industrial environments using the company’s innovative autonomy technology, Seegrid IQ, which fuses data from cameras, LiDAR, and machine learning models with the company’s proprietary 3D computer vision system. Seegrid was recently awarded for its automation technology, being named the #4 most innovative robotics company in the world by Fast Company and receiving Frost & Sullivan’s Technology Innovation Leader Award.

Sumitomo integrated Seegrid Palion Tow Tractor, named #1 in market share worldwide for automated tow tractors by Interact Analysis, an international market research authority for the supply chain automation industry, into their daily material handling workflows to increase productivity and reduce cost of non value-added activities. Seegrid’s automated industrial vehicle towing model safely, flexibly, and reliably automates the horizontal movement of multiple payloads up to 10,000 pounds. Sumitomo visually tracks and optimizes real-time Palion AMR material movement with Supervisor, Seegrid’s fleet management software solution.

To learn more about Sumitomo Drive Technologies’ experience with Seegrid, download the complimentary case study.

About Sumitomo Drive Technologies

At Sumitomo Drive Technologies, we work hand-in-hand with our customers to ensure that their industrial gearboxes, speed reducers, servo gearmotors, and accessories remain operational for years to come. Many of our products have been in high-speed and harsh environments for years. Clients make the switch to Sumitomo to experience that durability and decrease the amount of unscheduled downtime and maintenance in their facility.

About Seegrid

Seegrid combines autonomous mobile robots, enterprise software, and best-in-class services for a complete, connected material handling automation solution. With millions of autonomous production miles driven and zero personnel safety incidents, Seegrid Palion^TM AMRs are reliable, flexible, and proven. The world’s largest manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics companies rely on Seegrid to automate material flow in highly complex environments. From project design through deployment, change management, user training, and data-driven consultation, material flow is both safe and optimized, accelerating automation initiatives today and into the future.

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