Deploying AMRs in a factory: a step-by-step guide

Step 1: Send your layout and define the flows

Every AMR deployment starts with two questions: what moves, and where. A layout of the area is enough to begin. It can be a CAD drawing, a PDF or simply a video of the route recorded on a phone.

Alongside the layout, describe the flows you want to automate. The more of this you can share, the sharper the first proposal will be:

• What moves: pallets, racks or carts, totes, rolls or cartons.
• Load weight per trip and how loads are picked up and dropped off.
• Trips per shift and number of shifts, including peaks.
• Systems that should send tasks, such as MES, WMS, ERP, PLCs or call buttons.
• Doors, lifts and conveyors along the route.

Step 2: Proposal within 48 hours

Within 48 hours of receiving the layout, you get a proposal with suggested routes, the number and type of robots, and a payback estimate. The assessment is free, with no obligation to buy.

When you review a proposal, check the assumptions behind it: trips per hour at peak, which robot type handles each flow, which systems will be integrated, and what is out of scope. A proposal is only as good as its inputs, so correct anything that does not match how the plant actually runs.

This is also the moment to choose the pilot. A good pilot flow is frequent, repetitive and visible, and it can be proven in a contained area without depending on every system being connected.

Step 3: Site survey and simulation

Two checks reduce risk before installation. A simulation of your flows confirms the robot count and tests traffic at peak load before any robot drives. The site survey checks the conditions that decide whether the robots will run reliably on your actual floor. Engineers walk the routes and look at:

• Floor condition: cracks, joints, slopes, thresholds, drains and surface contamination.
• Wi-Fi coverage: signal along every route and at every station, since the dispatch system communicates with robots over the network.
• Traffic: where people, forklifts and carts cross robot routes, and when peaks happen.
• Doors and lifts: which ones robots must pass and how they can be controlled.
• Stations and charging: pick-up and drop-off positions, condition of racks, carts and pallets, and power for chargers.

Step 4: Pilot installation and go-live

Installation starts with mapping. A robot is driven through the area to build a laser map from existing walls, columns and racks, usually with no tape, magnets or QR codes on the floor. Engineers then define routes, stations, speed zones and charging points in the dispatch system.

Next comes integration. Tasks are connected from MES, WMS, ERP, PLC signals or call buttons, and the dispatch system is linked to automatic doors, lifts and conveyors. Each interface is tested with real loads, including failure cases such as a door that does not open or a station that is full.

Training runs in parallel. Operators learn to call tasks and respond to alarms, supervisors learn the live map and reports, and maintenance staff learn routine checks and how to recover a stopped robot. Go-live is supported by engineers on site. A pilot usually goes live in 6 to 10 weeks from the start of the project.

Steps 5 and 6: Scale up and keep it running

Once the pilot runs reliably across all shifts, use its data to plan the next phase: task times, robot utilization, waiting points and alarms. Scaling up usually means adding robots, routes and stations to the same map, or adding other robot types such as autonomous forklifts, CTUs or mobile manipulators. Because one dispatch system runs all robot types, new flows share the same traffic management, charging and interfaces. Plants with several sites can run the same software at each one, so lessons carry over.

After go-live, local engineers handle service and remote monitoring flags issues early. Spare parts are kept nearby to limit downtime. Plan regular reviews of performance and alarms, and update the map and routes whenever the layout changes.

AMR readiness checklist

Before the project starts, confirm the following. None of these needs to be perfect on day one, but each one left open tends to delay go-live:

• A named project owner on site, with authority to make decisions about layout and processes.
• A current layout, with the flows, volumes and shift patterns for the pilot area.
• Floor along the routes free of major damage, steep slopes and high thresholds.
• Wi-Fi coverage along the routes, or a plan to improve it.
• Contacts in IT and controls for MES, WMS or PLC integration.
• Standardized racks, carts or pallets for the flows being automated.
• Agreed locations and power for chargers.
• Time set aside for operators, supervisors and maintenance staff to be trained.

Change management: bringing your team along

Technical readiness is only half of an AMR implementation. The other half is people, and it is where many projects slow down. In comparable projects, these practices helped most:

• Explain early what will change for each role, including where handling staff will be redeployed.
• Involve operators and shift leads in choosing pick-up points, routes and crossings. They know where the real bottlenecks are.
• Make robot routes and stations visible on the floor so that people know where robots will drive and stop.
• Train every shift, not only day shift, and name a go-to person on each one.
• Share pilot results openly, including problems and how they were fixed.
• Set clear rules for what to do when a robot stops, and who to call.