ABB Robots and AMRs Replacing Factory Forklifts

From 1960 forklifts to Nissan's 4,000-pound AMRs that call each other for backup, and how ABB's Flexley Mover and assembly robots fit the new car plant.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/26/20261 min read

In 1960, workers at the IMPOL metal plant in Slovenia loaded a truck with the help of an early forklift, while the men around it steadied the load by hand. For decades factory parts moved like this, by forklift, tug or trolley, with a person driving every trip.

Black and white photo of workers loading a truck with a small forklift outside a factory
Black and white photo of workers loading a truck with a small forklift outside a factory

Loading a truck with an early forklift at the IMPOL metal works, Slovenia, 1960. Photo: Joze Gal / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Automated guided vehicles came next, but the early ones followed wires or magnetic tape in the floor and stopped dead when something blocked the path. Driverless forklifts appeared too, mostly for simple runs in warehouses.

Low black automated guided vehicle on a factory floor beside a large robot arm
Low black automated guided vehicle on a factory floor beside a large robot arm

An automated guided vehicle on a factory floor next to an industrial robot. Photo: Marta Veverica / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In September, Business Insider reported that Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee plant is rolling out autonomous mobile robots from OTTO, part of Rockwell Automation, in its body shop. They carry about 4,190 pounds at up to 4.5 mph, charge themselves and call in another robot when one falls behind. They will take over work done by 64 forklift and tug operators, though early on the software sent two robots to the same spot at once.

Grey automated pallet stacker forklift standing in a warehouse
Grey automated pallet stacker forklift standing in a warehouse

A Jungheinrich ERC 213a driverless forklift, 2026. Photo: Marc Auledas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

ABB makes the robots that load and receive those parts, and the carts in between. Its Flexley Mover AMRs navigate with Visual SLAM, using cameras to recognise their surroundings, so they don't need tape or reflectors on the floor.

Small ABB mobile robot carrying blue crates past green machines
Small ABB mobile robot carrying blue crates past green machines

An ABB Flexley Mover P603 carrying crates between machines. Photo: ABB

The P603 carries crates and trolleys, and the larger P604 lifts heavier loads from underneath. On the line, ABB body-shop and final assembly robots handle car bodies, and in September ABB showed a flexible car-plant concept that uses AMRs to move work between assembly cells.

Flat white ABB autonomous mobile robot on a glossy floor in front of a red ABB logo
Flat white ABB autonomous mobile robot on a glossy floor in front of a red ABB logo

The ABB Flexley Mover P604 lifting AMR. Photo: ABB

Nissan's robot traffic jam shows where the hard part is: the fleet software has to be as good as the robots. I expect car plants to go the way warehouses went, with fewer forklifts and more small robots sharing one floor map. The forklift drivers could move into fleet control and maintenance, if companies plan for it.

White ABB robot next to a car body shell on a yellow carrier
White ABB robot next to a car body shell on a yellow carrier

An ABB robot working on a car body on an assembly line. Photo: ABB

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