As warehouses have become more automated in recent years, business models have had to change along with the technology. I recently had the opportunity to tour Andersen Material Handling’s offices in suburban Cleveland, as well as talk with Tyler Benson, the company’s business development manager. In addition to learning more about Andersen’s history and business, we spoke about some of the trends and technology that are changing today’s automated warehouses.
Andersen handles everything from forklifts to racking, as well as training, software, and anything intralogistics-related. Benson said that the company can provide solutions for nearly any problem within the four walls of a warehouse, whether that’s lift trucks or any sort of bottleneck situations a company may face.
But he also said that that Andersen’s business has indeed changed as warehouses have evolved into higher-tech spaces.
“Our business model has changed as the industry moves more towards automation,” Benson said. “We’ve moved from simply sit-down forklifts or stand-up forklifts into a full solutions provider. We’re now partnered right now with VisionNav Robotics. It offers a full catalog of products from Class 3 to stand-up to counterbalance trucks.”
VisionNav supplies autonomous forklifts and automated logistics systems.
Save the date for the 2026 Robotics SummitAndersen Material Handling goes electric, electronic
Benson said he was excited about the tidal shift from liquid propane-run (LP) forklifts to models that use electric batteries.
“We’re trying to get across to customers that there’s a big shift happening from LP to electric, and it’s helpful from both a cost-saving standpoint and from an environmental standpoint as well,” said Benson. “We do still sell LP models … but we try to push the electric options first, because that’s the way the market’s going.”
Andersen is now using a telematic system called iWarehouse, which features small monitors on all forklifts, allowing everything to be interconnected. For example, it might be a daily checklist of what operators are doing; they’re now able to mark tasks through the iWarehouse monitor. The system essentially limits the functionality of the machines until specific things are done on it.
“We’ve gotten into lidar zoning to where a lidar system preventing a machine from running into things around them,” said Benson. He also pointed out an integrated tether for workers who are using older pickers to limit the machines’ functions until their tethers are put on, a smart additional safety precaution.
Jerry Colley, an implementation specialist at Andersen, said that iWarehouse can work with any forklift or powered industrial equipment.
“It does your checklist electronically. It also tracks impacts, driver data, certifications and things of that nature,” he explained. “It’s a total fleet management system for your warehouse. It has been around since 2009, and we’re on the third version of the product now, which we call iWarehouse GTS, or Global Telematic System. It runs through Azure Cloud.”
Benson stressed that iWarehouse is Andersen’s leading product in the telematics area. Not only does the system allow managers to keep an active eye on their fleets, but it also offers service applications, he said.
“From a service perspective, we’re able to see if things are going wrong with the truck, if there’s a rough spot in their floor, we’re able to actually tell from the telematics on the truck itself,” he said. “So we can provide different suggestions based on what we’re seeing on the system as well.”
Andersen expects automation trend to continue
Benson said he expects the automation trend to continue in the coming years.
“Seeing the advancements being made between AGVs and AMRs has been really fascinating,” said Benson. “Lithium batteries is another really big, booming topic now in the industry. Everyone seems to be talking about the switch from lead-acid batteries to lithium batteries.”
“Again, I think the sustainability perspective is why a lot of people are going lithium,” he added. “But also the lifespan you’re seeing out of these is going to be much longer. It used to be that you’d buy a forklift, and you’d have to get two or three separate batteries during its lifespan. Now we’re talking about how the batteries are going to outlive the trucks.”
ISD focuses on customer-centric design
Integrated Systems Design, or ISD, is a sibling company of Andersen. It considers itself the automation arm of Andersen, according to Ryan Morgott, a consulting engineer with ISD.
“What we do is the whole spectrum of automation when it comes to warehousing, distribution, manufacturing, and assembly,” he said. “Depending on the customers, we could be working on conveyor systems or automated storage and retrieval systems or ASRS, as well as robotics — the whole works.”
“We really pride ourselves on being a system-agnostic systems integrator, and we focus on finding the best process and building the best process for our customers,” he said. “And with that process comes the automation.”
Morgott stressed that ISD doesn’t try to push a specific automation brand on customers. Instead, it focuses on what processes could actually bring them the most benefits.
“We focus heavily on developing the process, using our customer’s data, using their insights, and then finding the best ROI [return on investment] and the best automation for them,” he said. “And then we are a turnkey integrator. So, we go all the way from initial concepting system design, specifying the automation, and then the full installation turnkey systems.”
ASRS systems advance
Morgott said he has observed lots of advancements in autonomous mobile robots, including developing flexibility in terms of what they can handle. Additionally, greater efficiency and speed have been trending for AMRs and other systems.
“We’re also seeing a lot of movement in the goods-to-person [G2P] world,” noted Morgott. “We’re seeing a lot of upticks in interest for these systems. Whether it’s your traditional, more mini-load ASRS that have been around for a long time or your shuttle systems that have also been around a long time, we’re now getting a lot of newer systems in the robotic cube systems.”
“We’re newly partnered with is Urbx, which is taking the best of all of these different ASRS and blending them into one system,” he concluded. “We think that they are the way of the future in terms of goods-to-persons systems.”
