Interroll and MiR Partner on Automated Material Handling System

Jan. 12, 2024

To navigate Interroll’s multi-level production facility in Switzerland, the company developed a light conveyor platform for MiR’s mobile robots.

A MiR250 with LCP on the move between production areas in Interroll’s Ticino, Switzerland facility.

Interroll, a supplier of material handling products, has developed a new light conveyor platform (LCP) that integrates with Mobile Industrial Robots' (MiR) autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). This new product is designed to optimize internal logistics by serving as a flexible link between fixed conveyor stations.

Interroll implemented its LCP with a MiR250 to solve internal logistics challenges in its facility in Ticino, Switzerland. This facility, which produces techno-polymer injection-molded parts, faced a logistical challenge due to its production operations taking place on multiple floors. As a result, manual labor was required to transport materials between production and logistics areas because existing technologies couldn't provide the necessary flexibility for multi-floor operations where people and other equipment move around.

A package is transferred from a MiR250 equipped with Interroll’s light conveyor platform to a fixed Interroll conveyor.

Using the LCP AMR top module on the MiR250 to increase productivity while enhancing safety for an automated material handling process in its Ticino facility, Interroll demonstrates how the combined products are used to autonomously navigate the multi-floor environment—even using elevators to transport materials between levels.

To further optimize the internal transportation, Interroll uses MiR Insights, a cloud-based software that enables users to make data-driven decisions, optimize their MiR robot fleet's performance and minimize downtime. More specifically, Interroll uses these insights to identify patterns in the robot’s behavior, optimize mission flows and reduce inefficiencies.

Interroll says the MiR250 operates an average of 22.3 hours per day, covering 106 km within the Ticino factory premises, reducing manual handling and transportation times and allowing Interroll's workforce to focus on tasks requiring human expertise.