The Safety ROI For Automating Materials Movement: Sunview Case Study

THE CHALLENGE: TRADITIONAL MATERIAL HANDLING UNSAFE AND INFLEXIBLE

With 40 years of experience, Sunview Patio Doors (Sunview) is a leader in their industry. Sunview has been successful at meeting customers’ increased demands for faster and better service, while providing an option for product customization. As the industry evolves and customers’ increasing demands change, Sunview came to understand that their traditional method of material handling — pump trucks and tow-motors (forklifts) — were unsafe, inflexible, and inefficient. 

While addressing the need for flexibility and efficiency was the main priority, Sunview also valued safety and wanted to find a more optimal solution than adding more tow-motors on the factory floor. As Kurt Oberparleiter, VP of Operations describes, 

"It’s very easy to become complacent when you deal with something repetitive every day. Tow-motors can be extremely dangerous for this reason— they’re stronger than a car, driving within inches of people, which could be disastrous for safety."

THE SOLUTION: IMPLEMENTING AMR TECHNOLOGY

Sunview initially considered automating with Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), but they found limitations that proved to be insurmountable, and they ultimately decided to implement the benefits of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).

To learn about the specific application they automated and the benefits they achieved, download the white paper on OTTO's website.