Recently, the global automotive industry has begun to pay attention to the autonomous mobile robot AMR for transportation purposes produced by the Danish company Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR). This robot can improve the efficiency of production and logistics workflows, help employees concentrate on handling more productive tasks, and avoid the time-consuming routine transportation.

Nearly 25% of all MiR robots sold so far have entered the automotive industry, and according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the trend of using AMR in the automotive industry is becoming increasingly clear. The 2019 annual report of IFR pointed out that the number of AMR installations in the automotive industry is far ahead, as mobile robots have successfully integrated into its streamlined and agile manufacturing environment.  

We have discovered enormous potential in internal logistics automation. We are constantly adjusting our internal structure in order to launch a richer portfolio of small batch, multi variety products. This cannot be achieved without the support of our internal logistics system, while also requiring high flexibility. MiR perfectly fits these two points. The MiR autonomous mobile robot navigates through an internal map without the need for magnetic stripe guidance, making it easy to update

Eric Moreau, Vice President of Supply Chain and Digital Enterprise Department of Faurecia Green Mobility Intelligence Business Unit, said so. His proposition coincides with Pepe P é rez, the head of the communication department at Ford Spain.

The automotive OEM representative said, "We use MiR mobile robots for internal material scheduling, making our factory one of the most innovative factories in Europe. We are proud of this. This measure has helped us improve logistics efficiency"

As one of the world's largest automotive parts manufacturers, Visteon's supply customers include major automotive companies such as Volkswagen, Skoda, BMW, Ford, and Citroen. It believes that MiR logistics solutions have three main advantages. The first is flexibility, as the same type of robot can be used in many different areas of the production process without changing existing processes. The second is fast and the user interface is easy to use. The functional graphical user interface can complete all operational applications, helping inexperienced beginners program robots.

The third advantage is related to the economic aspect:

"When investing in new technologies, an important consideration for Wistron is profitability. Our company has an important rule that investment returns must be achieved within one year. MiR complies with this rule. We look forward to deeper cooperation with MiR to create a better future together, "concluded Richard Č iernik, Industrial Engineering Manager of Wistron Electronics Slovakia.

"At MiR, we have discovered enormous potential for development in the automotive industry, which is adopting and utilizing emerging autonomous technologies at a significantly faster pace than any other industry. The internal design of production equipment currently in use highlights agile and dynamic principles. The previously open aisles may now have personnel, equipment, pallets, and other obstacles. Our mobile robots are at ease in these constantly changing environments. Thanks to the autonomous collaborative navigation of robots, automated material scheduling is flexible, easy to adjust, without any additional costs or interruptions to processes, "said Thomas Visti, CEO of MiR.

Bob Doyle, The Robotics Industry Association (www.robotics. org) and the Association for the Promotion of Automation (www.a3automation. org) also agree with this statement. The automotive industry and many other industries are gradually shifting towards the use of mobile robots in production and supply chain processes in order to gain a competitive advantage. Mobile robot technology has simplified the internal scheduling automation of materials and objects, without additional costs, without interrupting production, and can also improve employee safety in the workplace, "said Bob Doyle, Vice President of the Robotics Industry Association.

MiR mobile robots are mainly responsible for the transportation of goods between production lines and warehouses, with a single job content that can improve efficiency.

"Our MiR robots transport materials from the warehouse to the assembly line, facilitating the subsequent use of components. After the robots arrive at the assembly line, the materials are unloaded from the loading truck, and after the truck returns empty to the warehouse, the robots return to their waiting position. On average, each robot travels 11 kilometers per day, which to some extent liberates manpower. This helps employees focus on productive work and strengthens the company's research and development work, "explained Franz Scheibe, team leader of the assembly department at NIDEC Auengrund, a subsidiary of Nippon Electric Corporation.

With the release and launch of MiR500 last year and MiR1000 in April this year, our international market leadership position in the field of autonomous mobile robots has been basically established. Our achievements have been recognized by the automotive industry, which is also something we are deeply proud of, "Thomas Visti concluded.