Vanderlande Partners With Kollmorgen to Provide, Service Autonomous Forklifts

Vanderlande Industries B.V. last week announced that it has selected Kollmorgen NDC Solutions as a technology and service partner for its automated guided vehicle, or AGV, applications. Vanderlande said that Toyota Material Handling forklifts equipped with Kollmorgen's technology will strengthen its logistics and warehouse portfolio.

“Vanderlande strives to deliver the best fully integrated autonomous vehicle offering as part of our solutions for our warehousing, parcel, and airport customers," stated Daan Stikkel, general manager for autonomous vehicles (AVs) at Vanderlande. "With this collaboration, we are confident that by combining our expertise and solutions we can jointly deliver and continuously develop better AV solutions."

Veghel, Netherlands-based Vanderlande said its extensive portfolio of integrated systems, software, and life-cycle services supports fast, reliable, and efficient supply chain automation.

Toyota Industries Corp. acquired the company, whose U.S. headquarters are in Marietta, Ga., for $1.2 billion in 2017. Vanderlande recently joined RightHand Robotics Inc.'s integrator network.

Kollmorgen and Vanderlande take joint approach to AGVs

At Automate 2022, Kollmorgen introduced its new TMB2G frameless servo motors for robot arms. The Gothenburg, Sweden-based company said vehicle builders can use its NDC Solutions to create automated systems for logistics, including AGVs.

Kollmorgen's platform consists of software to route vehicles efficiently, as well as hardware for navigation and control.

The company claimed that NDC enables robotics developers and suppliers to "automate virtually any type of vehicle or robot and integrate it to any type of material handling application, in any industry, worldwide."

“Vanderlande and Kollmorgen share a very similar mindset," said Tobias Byfeldt, vice president of Kollmorgen AGV. "We both have a long history of advanced, industrialized and proven automation solutions – with reliability, collaboration, and the relentless strive for end-user success being our common cornerstones."

"We are convinced that this collaboration will drive strong growth for Vanderlande and Kollmorgen – but above all for our end users," he added.