Big Joe Expands Autonomous Material Movement and Simplifies Adoption
For 3PLs and manufacturers, some of the best opportunities for automation may also be the least complicated. Moving pallets from receiving to storage, transporting components to production, feeding staging areas, and hauling material across a facility are necessary tasks. Still, they can also consume valuable labor without requiring much human decision-making.
The AP44 Lets Operations Scale Autonomy Task by Task
Big Joe Autonomous Solutions is targeting these workflows with four new vehicles. First, the AP44 autonomous pallet truck, ATC100 autonomous tugger, ASC40 autonomous stacker, and ACV40 autonomous three-wheel forklift. At the center of the lineup is the AP44. It provides operations with a flexible starting point for autonomous material movement without committing every task to full automation.
“Big Joe has been on the leading edge of the industry’s shift from internal combustion to electric, and now we’re taking that same approach to autonomous vehicles as well – making it practical, accessible and scalable for the operations that need it most,” says Martin Boyd, Chief Marketing Officer at Big Joe Forklifts.
The 4,400-pound-capacity AP44 can operate in manual, semi-autonomous, or fully autonomous mode.
In manual mode, it functions as a conventional electric pallet truck. In semi-autonomous mode, an operator engages the pallet and lets the AP44 handle the transport and drop-off. A fully autonomous material movement operation removes the operator. This allows the truck to independently pick up, transport, and drop off palletized loads.
That flexibility is particularly relevant for 3PLs and manufacturers where workflows and throughput requirements can change throughout the day. Automation can handle predictable transport runs while manual control remains available when the operation requires it.
As Nick Malewicki, General Manager of Big Joe Autonomous Solutions, explained on The New Warehouse Podcast, “Starting semi-autonomous really allowed us to then build upon that and offer customers three vehicles in one.”
Rather than treating full autonomy as the starting line, the AP44 allows an operation to begin with a repetitive horizontal move, build confidence, and expand autonomy when the workflow makes sense.
Autonomous Material Movement Extends Beyond Pallet Transport
Big Joe’s three additional autonomous vehicles extend that approach to different material-movement applications.
The ATC100 is a 10,000-pound-capacity autonomous tugger built to tow carts, components, and in-process materials. For manufacturers, that can include recurring line-feed routes. For distribution operations, it can take over longer point-to-point transport runs. Operators can also take manual control when needed.
The ASC40 brings autonomous operation to repetitive vertical movement. The 4,000-pound-capacity counterbalanced stacker is a fully autonomous robot capable of pick-and-place operations up to three feet high, including pallet staging, line-side replenishment, and interactions with pickup-and-drop stations and conveyor systems.
The ACV40 is a 4,000-pound-capacity autonomous three-wheel forklift. Its familiar forklift form factor gives operations another option for automating repetitive pick-and-place work while retaining manual operation when the job changes.
Together, the four vehicles give facilities a path from horizontal pallet transport to tugging, stacking, and forklift applications without requiring every workflow to be automated at once.
Automation Without Rebuilding the Warehouse
Big Joe says its autonomous material movement solutions require only a Wi-Fi connection, with no magnetic tape, floor-mounted QR codes, reflectors, or major facility modifications. The company also says units can be mapped and deployed in under an hour. That can be especially important in existing 3PL and manufacturing facilities, where infrastructure changes can add cost, extend deployment timelines, and disrupt ongoing operations.
“Customers are looking for practical and approachable automation that simply works within their existing operations, not systems that require a complete redesign of their facility,” Malewicki says.
For operations exploring autonomous material movement, that changes the starting question. Instead of asking how to automate the entire warehouse, identify the repetitive transportation work consuming labor today.
The AP44 offers a place to begin. The ATC100, ASC40, and ACV40 provide a logical next step.
For more information, contact Big Joe Autonomous Solutions.
