About three years ago, U.S. Continental acquired an extra facility to handle its expanded manufacturing and final distribution services. Since opening the facility, its management had noted a high amount of forklift traffic between the two buildings.
U.S. Continental relied on a substantial manual effort—approximately 200 forklift trips per week—to handle pallet deliveries between the facilities.
The company has over three decades of experience in manufacturing leather and fabric care products. Some of the world’s leading brands trust U.S. Continental with their packaging design and custom care solutions. The Corona, Calif.-based company’s factory is more than 100,000 sq. ft. (9,290.3 sq. m).
Heavy forklift traffic can be a safety concern at some facilities. Manufacturing is the most common industry for forklift fatalities, representing 42% of all deaths. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 35,000 to 62,000 injuries and around 90 fatal accidents annually involve forklifts.
Cyngn DriveMod Tugger absorbs forklift traffic
To reduce its forklift traffic, U.S. Continental deployed Cyngn’s DriveMod Tugger, which transports pallets outdoors between buildings and automates material movement across the facility. Since deploying the autonomous tugger, the forklift workload has been seamlessly absorbed by automation.
Designed to operate in clear, dry environments, the DriveMod Tugger transports goods outside as well as inside, providing greater flexibility for material handling across different areas of the facility.
Cyngn’s next-generation DriveMod Tugger has a towing capacity from 6,000 to 12,000 lb. (2,721.5 to 5,443.1 kg).
“The Tugger’s ability to autonomously drive outside underscores the versatility and dependability of our technology in real-world conditions,” said Lior Tal, CEO of Cyngn. “We’re proud to support our longstanding partner in helping them achieve greater efficiency, safety, and flexibility.”
U.S. Continental sees a four times increase in efficiency
The team said DriveMod has reduced manual labor and brought greater efficiency to the operation. As a result, the company has experienced a fourfold increase in operational efficiency.
“After we deployed the tuggers, our efficiency in the warehouse increased,” said Dave Hoover, vice president of technical services at U.S. Continental. “On a forklift, we are taking one pallet at a time, and with the tugger, we can move four pallets at once.”
“I’d definitely recommend Cyngn to warehouse facilities looking to automate their processes,” he continued. “It’s going to help them reduce their manpower, increase their efficiency, and build a better process.”
According to Hoover, the use of the autonomous tugger has allowed U.S. Continental to redeploy its labor in the warehouse to more value-added processes, such as performing cycle counts, picking additional orders, and following up on discrepancies.
Founded in 2013, Cyngn said its DriveMod Tugger targets a typical payback period of less than two years. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company also offers the DriveMod Forklift, which can lift nonstandard pallets.
