Company: OTTO Motors, Kitchener, Ontario
Company Description: At OTTO Motors, we believe material handling is one of the most dangerous and unproductive parts of manufacturing and warehouse operations. Our mission is to create safer, more productive and more fulfilling workplaces with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). With over four million production hours, OTTO delivers the productivity in mission-critical environments for the world's largest brands.
Nomination Category: Product & Service Categories - Business Technology Solutions
Nomination Sub Category: Manufacturing Solution
 Nomination Title: OTTO Lifter, the World's Smartest Autonomous Forklift
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the the nominated new or new-version product or service, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
N/A
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which it was released. If this is a new version of an existing product, state the date on which the update was released:
OTTO Lifter, the world’s smartest autonomous forklift was first introduced to the manufacturing industry on March 24, 2022
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the features, functions, and benefits of the nominated product or service (up to 350 words):
Total 324 words used.
The innovative autonomous mobile robot (AMR) was built to address warehouse and material handling challenges of today and tomorrow, including labor shortages and safety. Due to an aging workforce and migration from industrial towns to cities, one of the biggest challenges for manufacturers is finding enough qualified people to fill their open roles; in fact, “hiring and retaining qualified workers” has been named a top two challenge for manufacturers according to the MHI Annual Industry Report every year since 2016. Thus, the workers that facilities are able to hire should be focused on high value-added, fulfilling tasks instead of dull, repetitive manual material handling. Manual forklifts can also be unsafe. According to OSHA, of all physical injuries in a workspace, 10% of them involve forklifts. The report also cites that, for a given manual forklift, there's a 90% chance of it contributing to a serious accident during its 8-year average lifespan. Thus, manufacturing facilities and warehouses worldwide have been searching for a material handling solution that is safer, more comprehensive, and more flexible than an AGV or manual forklift.
That’s where OTTO Lifter fulfills this industry need. Built on OTTO Motors’ 14 years of industry-leading robotics expertise and over 4 million production hours, OTTO Lifter nimbly drives in crowded and dynamic environments safely and efficiently. The robot’s core skill is autonomously picking up and dropping off pallets from the floor to other equipment like a conveyor of heights up to 30 inches. The durable, robust AMR is easy to install and is up and running from day one. With advanced safety sensors, class-leading autonomous driving capabilities, and a maximum payload capacity of 2,650 pounds, OTTO Lifter works alongside people, other vehicles, and existing infrastructure for as low as $9/hour. Through dynamic path planning, lane tending, intelligent pallet detection and stretch wrap piercing, OTTO Lifter seamlessly navigates traffic and obstacles to predictably and precisely deliver materials to the right place, at the right time.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Outline the market performance, critical reception, and customer satisfaction with the product or service to date. State monetary or unit sales figures to date, if possible, and how they compare to expectations or past performance. Provide links to laudatory product or service reviews. Include some customer testimonials, if applicable (up to 350 words):
Total 334 words used.
Over one year after its launch, OTTO Lifter continues to be the smartest autonomous forklift in the market, capable of unlocking new material handling workflows and solving top challenges for manufacturing facilities and warehouses worldwide. ZDNet, a technology and innovation publication with a reach of over 130 million annual global visitors called OTTO Lifter “a smart forklift ready and willing to work for cheap.” Additionally, our global customer base praises the AMR’s key differentiating factors. For example, OTTO Lifter uses Adaptive Fieldset Technology to quickly navigate dynamic workspaces while prioritizing safety for the people and other equipment in the facility. This results in faster mission completion times, smaller fleets delivering the equivalent in productivity and the highest customer ROI. Additionally, unlike AGVs and current forklifts on the market, Lifter intelligently recognizes and moves pallets to and from stands without any operator intervention, facilitating quick, one-touch autonomous lane clearing. Lifter is unlocking new pallet transport workflows for the entire manufacturing industry, including Palletizer to Stretch-Wrapper, Stretch-Wrapper to Storage, Storage to Outbound and vice-versa. The AMR can be easily switched to manual mode with the touch of a button, enabling many more workflow possibilities. Moreover, OTTO Lifter uses AI capabilities to intuitively pick up and drop off off-centered pallets up to 15-degrees and safely pierce stretch-wrapped pallets with up to 4 wraps of clear ply. [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] OTTO Lifter’s performance in the market can be summarized by Zach Smith’s comments, Vice President of Toyota Material Handling Systems: “When the team brought OTTO Motors to demo at our facility for the first time, I asked what I had to do to make sure that those vehicles didn’t leave my facility that day because I knew our customers needed what OTTO offers. We’re proud to bring customers OTTO Motors’ fleet of autonomous mobile robots including their autonomous forklift, OTTO Lifter.”
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 107 words used.
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ZDNet article referenced: https://www.zdnet.com/article/supply-chain-woes-say-hi-to-the-worlds-smartest-forklift/
OTTO Lifter press release: https://ottomotors.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/otto-motors-launches-worlds-smartest-autonomous-forklift
MHI Annual Industry Reports: https://www.mhi.org/publications/report
10% of forklifts are involved in serious accidents statistic: https://forkliftfails.com/forklift-accident-statistics/
90% chance of a serious accident for manual forklifts statistics: https://www.forklifttrainingsystems.com/osha
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"Meet OTTO Lifter" video: https://ottomotors.com/resources/videos/otto-lifter-smartest-autonomous-forklift
OTTO Lifter image 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IM4OsFV9QMpO9FFWe1AOcr_svuLfAPz8/view?usp=sharing
OTTO Lifter image 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GXjFAf-KAbmYeu98EUE_YB-rQ_NX_k7-/view?usp=sharing
OTTO Lifter image 3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qGE2INKH2JGsqGZBkJi-5c5w5uG-27vt/view?usp=sharing
OTTO Lifter blog: https://ottomotors.com/blog/meet-otto-lifter-your-new-co-worker
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