This summer, Jamie and I had a chance to exhibit at the first ever Package Fulfillment, Logistics, and Delivery Expo in Cincinnati, Ohio. We brought the Thouzer AGVs with us and were able to show those off to some really wonderful people in the logistics industry from all over the country.
During the event, the event organizers interviewed Jamie about what he's seeing in the industry right now, what he thinks of the show, and more. Watch the full interview below (it's less than five minutes) or read through the full transcript, also below.
Nadia Dunn: Hi, I'm Nadia Dunn. Welcome to IDX TV! We're here at the Package Fulfillment, Logistics and Delivery Expo in Cincinnati. I'm joined by Jamie from JLC Industrial. Jamie thank you so much for being here!
Jamie Callihan: It's my pleasure! Thank you for having me.
Nadia Dunn: Now can you tell us a bit about JLC Industrial and your new arm JLC Robotics?
Jamie Callihan: Yes ma'am. So JLC Industrial was started in 2009 as a manufacturer's representative firm / solutions firm and we go into industries and try and help people solve problems in lifting, ergonomics, tooling, quality control and conveyance. That parlayed into earlier this year where we started JLC Robotics as we partnered with a company called Doog out of Japan with some autonomous mobile robots. We had checked with our customer, biggest customer -Toyota - who had purchased them in Japan, they liked them, so we went ahead and jumped on board.
Nadia Dunn: And tell us about automation over the last couple of years and the new technologies that are coming in with it.
Jamie Callihan: The automation is really ramping up and I believe that with the labor shortage, people who really used to throw just labor at problems are really starting to look at automation, but I think that sometimes they get sticker shock or they may not have the infrastructure to support it but they are needing it and realizing a use for it. Again, the labor shortage has has really ramped that up.
Nadia Dunn: And what other challenges is the industry facing and how are companies overcoming those?
Jamie Callihan: Well again back to automation, I think that a lot of people who who didn't understand it or really weren't interested in it because there was plenty of people are now at the door saying "hey tell me about this," "show me what you've got," "how can you help me?" I believe they're coming to people like us in our industry saying, "well what is it that you dothat can solve this problem or that problem."
Nadia Dunn: And you must have quite a close relationship then with the warehouses and warehouse management systems, right?
Jamie Callihan: Not necessarily warehouse management systems but with warehouses yes. They're the ones that have the problems. I think the management systems get into "how do you control it and pull data and things like that" but we're more feet on the ground looking at mechanical or ergonomic issues, quality issues, and things of that nature and trying to bring a solution to that.
Nadia Dunn: And what's the big thing the people are talking about at the moment? Is it the vertical conveyance?
Jamie Callihan: Vertical conveyance is there. For what I'm seeing it's more [a question of] "How do you not have as many touch points?" So if you have a tractor trailer come in with a 53-foot load, instead of normally using a HiLo to pick it off take it over here later on, go back and get it. I've seen that they're now streamlining that complete process to just unload it and take it where [it's needed to] get the conveyance system or process just more streamlined. So there's not as many touch points but with that they're also trying to be very diligent about safety because then you're you're adding a lot more motion and you have to keep people safe.
Nadia Dunn: Yes, absolutely. And what about this event? What's the key takeaway for you from this?
Jamie Callihan: Oh. Key takeaway from this. Well first of all the the people who put on the show have done a phenomenal job. I think they've brought the people, I think they've marketed it, I think that people who again have problems or
challenges are here looking for solutions. There's a wide breadth of vendors to be able to take care of that. There is some overlap but from what I've seen walking around there's a lot of different solution vendors here so they're not stepping on each other's toes too much so that's a big takeaway for me.
Nadia Dunn: And what does JLC Robotics get from coming to the event?
Jamie Callihan: Well we'll see! BUT we've met some really nice people and it's just an opportunity for us to share the technology. Again, this is new to a lot of people and they don't understand how it can help them so we've seen some light bulbs go off and when they do then people are like "here's my card, make sure you call me!" And from there we'll go in and hopefully the light bulbs go off with the same people or their people as it did for them, but for us it's being able to share the technology, meet new people, but also hear their challenges and maybe we'll use those at a later date.
Nadia Dunn: Great well thank you for your time Jamie it's been great to meet you!
Jamie Callihan: It's my pleasure. Thank you so much!
Nadia Dunn: Thank you and thank you for watching IDX TV brought to you by CCL.
JLC Robotics is a Thouzer Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) distributor based in Cincinnati, Ohio. For media inquiries or contact requests please use our contact page.
