The modern warehouse demands a blend of the mechanical and the high-tech. Systems integrator LAC Logistics Automation has a range of qualities that are not often seen, with UK-based manufacturing capability, abundant experience in a wide variety of sectors, coupled with a growing software team, backing up innovative robots from leading supplier Exotec and much else.
The combination of these capabilities is an absolute weapon for LAC and is unrivalled. It takes a new way of thinking, but you have got to respect the old way as well. One way this can help companies is short lead times. As LAC Logistics Automation manufactures locally it can have standard conveyor sections built and ready to ship in 6-8 weeks.
The control LAC Logistics Automation possesses over, not just system integration and software and solution design, but manufacture, also gives the firm more scope to create bespoke solutions for its customers.
For example, LAC has recently carried out palletising work for a leading grocer. Palletising always brings variations as products arrive from different suppliers with diverse tolerances. So, the robot head that works for one box may not be optimal for another. This can create knock on impacts on how pallets are stacked and routed via conveyor as well as how boxes are handled.
LAC are lucky that they have people with lots of experience in food production and car manufacturing where you are building bespoke applications all the time to handle some really unique product loads. The last few years of growth for LAC, to some extent has been down to adapting this expertise to the logistics market. It feels like they are on the cusp of a robotics evolution, with the depth of experience to make it work.
For similar reasons, 3PLs are pushing harder for automation, LAC has noticed. For one, they are struggling to source labour, and it’s also unpalatable to pay for head count in the thousands to service contracts. The evolution of technology has also helped, says Joe Metcalfe, Sales Director, as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are an agile, flexible solution.
LAC Logistics Automation is the exclusive partner for warehouse tech firm Exotec, who produce software-driven robotic picking solutions. Uniquely, the Skypod systems features robots that climb specialised racking to retrieve tote bins, allowing for particularly space efficient solutions.
LAC Logistics Automation has completed its first Exotec project in the UK, with iForce, which as of November 2022 went operational, picking general merchandise products.
LAC Logistics Automation are the sole integrator for Exotec in the UK and Ireland and believe the project will serve as a proof of concept for other end users in the UK. Interest is high, from end users and LAC are bidding for a number of major E-commerce and fashion projects at the moment.
Projects are many and varied for LAC Logistics Automation. They have developed enormously in recent years, and are able to bring manufacturing clout, integrator intelligence and software development to bear on a very broad range of warehouse operation challenges.
John Wilson, LAC Business Development Manager concludes, “Perhaps we are still seen as simply a conveyors company? We are not. We’re a high-tech automation player, with local manufacturing capabilities. We have the firepower. We have some 160 people, with a third of that in systems and software development. And we are growing fast.”
LAC Logistics Automation
t: 0115 975 3300
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