Third Wave Automation
Canvas Category Machinery : Industrial Robot : Material Handling
Third Wave Automation™ (TWA) was founded in 2018 in Union City, CA, to alleviate increasing supply chain stress using intelligent automation products and services. Leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to create its Collaborative Autonomy Platform™, TWA brings people and automated systems together to improve throughput, efficiency, and safety beyond what either people or automation could achieve alone. The Collaborative Autonomy Platform™ combines hybrid autonomous vehicles, intelligent fleet management, remote operation, and assistance capabilities to provide holistic materials handling solutions that improve over time. TWA’s platform requires no infrastructure upgrades, integrates into existing workflows, and delivers immediate value to customers on deployment.
Assembly Line
Self-Driving Vehicles Are Finding a Home in Industrial Operations
Kimberly-Clark credits hundreds of autonomous forklifts with helping the consumer-products company keep Kleenex facial tissue, Cottonelle toilet paper and other goods flowing to stores despite labor shortages during the Covid pandemic. Sharpie maker Newell Brands says the vehicles are helping deliver safety improvements and cost savings across the company’s operations.
Kimberly-Clark has more than 300 autonomous forklifts at its North American warehouses, up from about 30 in 2019, said Sarah Haffer, vice president of customer logistics for the company’s North America consumer division. Haffer said Kimberly-Clark’s warehouses with autonomous forklifts have provided some of the most consistent service levels to its retail customers. “We have been able to manage through Covid with real stability and beyond in terms of throughput and capabilities,” Haffer said.
Newell Brands, whose products also include Coleman outdoor recreation equipment and Rubbermaid food storage goods, uses more than 200 autonomous forklifts across its facilities. Newell Chief Executive Chris Peterson said robotic vehicles have reduced incidents of damage to goods and are delivering “significant cost savings.”
Third Wave Automation Announces Strategic Investment from Qualcomm Ventures and Zebra Technologies
Third Wave Automation (TWA), provider of high-reach autonomous forklifts, today announced a strategic investment by Qualcomm Ventures and Zebra Technologies, bringing total funding to $70 million. The strategic investment will enable TWA to accelerate new innovations as its first product expands its select pilot program. With the funding, TWA plans to expand its market offerings, accelerate new solutions for automating other classes of forklifts, including narrow aisle and counterbalance trucks and integrate with automation solutions, such as Fetch Robotics, which is now part of Zebra Technologies.