Reports that small, low-profile, single-bin automated guided vehicles (AGV) capable of light load, small-bin pickup and transport will soon take over warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing plants are exaggerated. Sure, when Amazon bought Kiva years ago for a little less than a billion dollars, it had the deep pockets to invest in that kind of infrastructure. Since that time there is a whole new generation of low-profile “bots” that have failed to catch on with any significance. There is a reason: Price.

As cool and sexy as these small robots may be, their ROI is almost always more than a year, often many years. For GE Healthcare, Toyota, and others, there is a willingness to ignore the initial price tag and buy the Ferrari; for the rest of the industry, when pulling a string of industrial carts, a driverless tugger will do just fine.

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