Worldwide development and application of automated guided vehicle systems

The automation of transportation in the production, trade and service sectors is a key point in the optimisation of intralogistics. For this task, Automated Guided Vehicle Systems (AGVS) provide special benefits. Applications exist in all fields of industry and trade. Typical examples are the use in assembly lines, warehouses, order picking systems and production plants. Based on the AGVS-Statistic Europe, which is created and administrated by the Department of Planning and Controlling of Warehouse and Transport Systems of the University of Hannover, the main application of AGVS and the sectors in which they are used are analysed. Furthermore, this paper discusses the development of AGVS in China. The first successful implementations as well as the future trends and possibilities are presented.