Complexity, reliability, and cost challenges often prevent warehouses from adopting automated forklifts, according to Yale Lift Truck Technologies. The company said it has designed its platform to be set up quickly, without needing custom coding or specialized software engineers.
“Typically, 80 to 100 lift trucks are needed per 1 million sq. ft. [92,903 sq. m] of warehouse,” said Kyle Smart, sales manager for emerging technology at Yale Lift Truck. “But warehouses face up to 40% turnover in workers and 25,000 lift-truck accidents.”
“We can address labor, safety, and productivity issues with automation,” he told Automated Warehouse. “Most customers are early in their journey, and Yale Relay is designed to help overcome barriers to entry.”
AGVs get refined with feedback
Yale Lift Truck said it has spent nearly a decade refining its automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in response to customer feedback. In the past, companies needed multiple proprietary tools to stitch together a map.
Now, operators can manually drive a truck through a warehouse to map it, and they can drag and drop waypoints in the Automated Lift Truck Portal without any coding. The robots can follow dedicated routes using simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) navigation.
The Greenville, N.C.-based company claimed that this can reduce implementation time to as little as one day compared with weeks or months in the past. It added that standards-compliant automation can improve reliability and safety.
“Traditionally, users would add operational requirements but not have standardized processes for things like double-stacking loads,” said Smart. “Now, we always follow ANSI/ISO safety protocols and best practices. Relay includes natural feature navigation, optimized routes, and an ‘always-on’ approach, versus manual driver sick days.”
Yale uses SICK sensors, lidar, and 3D cameras and integrates components independently for ease of replacement and service. Other innovative features include automatic wireless charging and hitching, plus a pedestrian event dashboard announced this month.
Since its launch at ProMat 2025, Yale Relay has been recognized as “AGV Solution of the Year” from the Supply Tech Breakthrough Awards and a silver “Best in Biz” award as one of the most innovative products of the year.
Yale says portal can prove ROI
Once the robotic fleet is up and running, warehouse managers can use a cloud-based portal to manage and monitor tow tractors and lift trucks across multiple facilities, said Yale Lift Truck. It said the platform is compatible with infrastructure including fire alarms, interactive input boxes, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), warehouse management systems (WMSes), and more.
“With our approach, warehouses can use labor resources more efficiently,” he asserted. “Our interface is designed to be user-friendly so that local dealers and long-term customers can drag and drop. We have pre-built inventory for faster implementation.”
Yale has commissioned more than 800 automated lift trucks in over 80 successful deployments in 50+ sites, said Smart. It has more than 20 dealers in over 250 locations.
A basic project for Yale Lift Truck includes up to three trucks, up to 30 active stops, no WMS or PLC integration, and month-to-month pricing, Smart explained. An advanced project includes a 36-month lease.
“We can now prove the higher utilization rate and return on investment [ROI] much faster, and we have all the example data for the C suite to scale,” said Smart. “We’ll be adding more to the platform over the next 18 months for more applications and horizontal and vertical movement.”
Register now for the 2026 Robotics SummitService and support address complexity
“Complexity includes the need for software engineers or temp tabor, which is harder to come by, as well as long purchasing processes and CapEx [capital expenditures] with long lead times,” Smart noted.
Installing robots can be costly, with automation startups requiring more than $100,000, let alone route or infrastructure changes, he added. Yale Lift Truck provides a flexible rental model with low-risk return, according to Smart.
“It’s not necessarily robotics as a service [RaaS], which is usually tied to throughput or usage,” he said. “Ours is a monthly rate for the entire system, including the unit, battery, software, and service and maintenance. Rentals are common in lift-truck management.”
Relay is available through a rental model that rolls software, hosting, and ongoing platform improvements into a single monthly fee instead of a large upfront investment, said Yale. Facilities can pilot with one or two trucks and then scale as required, it added.
In addition, the Yale dealer network provides training, parts, and preventative maintenance for Relay systems.
Yale Lift Truck will be at Booth B13732 at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta.
