Pittsburgh, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/14/2013 -- Seegrid Corporation, maker of robotic industrial trucks is featured as the best solution for Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle in the current June 2013 issue of Modern Materials Handling. Executive Editor, Bob Trebilcock, reported, “One of the nation’s largest privately held multi-format fuel, food and pharmacy retailers, Giant Eagle is an early adopter of Seegrid’s (http://www.seegrid.com) pallet-handling robotic industrial trucks, a type of mobile robot that resembles an operatorless lift truck. The company began testing the idea of using the trucks for putaway operations in the fall of 2007. Since then, Giant Eagle has put into service four double robotic pallet trucks (vehicles that can handle two pallets at a time) in a 440,000-square-foot distribution center outside of Pittsburgh. Another four trucks are working at a retail support center, or RSC, as Giant Eagle refers to its DCs, in Cleveland.”

Joe Hurley, Senior Vice President of Distribution and Logistics at Giant Eagle, commented on the reduction of manned travel and an increase in productivity, “We have reduced manned travel for putaway by 20% to 30%, and we increased the high lift pallet per hour by 20%. What’s more, robotic industrial trucks have freed lift truck operators up for more valuable processes, such as replenishment and picking. Finally, the vehicles are contributing to Giant Eagle’s competitiveness in a crowded marketplace. We have to keep our warehouses efficient so we can take cost out of the system and reinvest those savings into the value proposition we offer to customers.”

With nearly $10 billion in sales and 36,000 team members, Giant Eagle is ranked Number 29 on the Forbes list of the largest privately held companies. The company operates 229 supermarkets and 187 fuel and convenience stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.

The entire MMH article can be read at: http://smsepub.com/publication/?i=162689.

About Seegrid
Founded in 2003, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Seegrid Corporation brings robotic vision-guided technology to the material handling industry. With more than thirty years of innovation and research by leading robotic scientists, engineers, programmers and logistics practitioners worldwide, Seegrid’s exclusive Robotic Industrial Trucks are revolutionizing the movement of materials in manufacturing and distribution environments. Seegrid’s technology transforms industrial vehicles into unmanned, automated pallet trucks and tow tractors that operate without the need for wire, tape, laser, magnet or other costly automated guided vehicle (AGV) guidance systems. Seegrid offers solutions that optimize workflow processes by increasing productivity and reducing costs, creating economic and operational advantages. Fast Company named Seegrid as one of the Top 50 World’s Most Innovative Company in 2013 and among the Top 10 World’s Most Innovative Robotics Company in 2013. Follow Seegrid Corporation on Twitter at @Seegrid.

Seegrid Corporation
http://www.seegrid.com
Amanda Merrell, Marketing Director
amerrell@seegrid.com
412-379-4500