Due to the huge pressure on the supply chain caused by labor shortage, arcbest (arcb. O), a large American logistics company, and NFI industries plan to purchase thousands of forklifts that can be operated remotely.
Phantom auto, a start-up company in the manufacture of remote forklifts, will gain double benefits from the investment in accelerated automation in the supply chain field. Arcbest and NFI said in a recent statement that they would also invest $42 million in phantom.
According to the American Automation Association, business owners' investment in industrial automation surged during the epidemic.
Phantom and arcbest have been jointly developing forklifts that can carry goods around warehouses and factories by themselves or by drivers counting miles from where they work.
The technology allows one operator to drive multiple forklifts in different locations, and the remote system can also support vehicles designed for autonomous operation.
Arcbest and phantom said they intend to cooperate to sell automatic forklifts with remote operation capability.
Phantom auto began to focus on developing a system for remotely operating driverless robot taxis, but has shifted its focus to industrial automation. Phantom co-founder Elliot Katz said teleoperation technology "separates labor from location". He said the outbreak raised health concerns about indoor work and accelerated interest in the technology by reducing the number of people willing to work in warehouses and factories.
Michael newcity, chief Innovation Officer of arcbest, who will join phantom's board of directors, told Reuters that the freight and logistics company is discussing with customers in the automotive and retail industries how to deploy forklifts using phantom's remote operating system. All the customers they are talking to are growing, and the labor shortage they face in warehouse operations is the situation before the pandemic.
Katz said that NFI plans to deploy forklifts in its own operations and operate remotely at any time.
Phantom announced last year that it was cooperating with the French logistics company Geodis to develop a remotely operated forklift truck.
