Since its establishment in 1953, Mizuno Sangyo Co., Ltd. has increased its lineup of products to meet the diversifying needs and has now reached the stage as a trading company.
Main business contents are proposal and supply of products that customers demand, mainly containers and packaging materials. By accurately grasping the needs of customers, what we are seeking now, we will help to create new products, services and new business models. And while continuing to respond flexibly to the changing times, we are working on solving various problems such as environmental problems and we will actively propose new products in search of new possibilities.

The Kanto Distribution Center which introduced CarriRo is the largest distribution center in the Mizuno Sangyo Co., Ltd.. Among them, the Processing Division is doing picking everyday with 15 employees and 190 part names, and the number of deliveries is 55,000 per month, and the number of items handled is also more than 10,000 items.
We handle various types of goods such as kitchen fixtures such as detergents and cleaning tools from take-out packaging materials, and we do picking (total picking → picking by store), inspection, packing, shipping (transporting) work. Among them, there was a rise in personnel expenses and shortage of human resources, and to reduce the burden and increase productivity was a challenge.

We aimed to reduce the workload of workers from the problems of labor costs surge and personnel shortage, to improve the working environment and improve productivity.
Especially the long cart (width 60 cm, length 180 cm) used in the processing section can carry a lot of luggage at a time, the total weight at the time of loading also became considerable, so handling was difficult. We thought that it would be possible to reduce the workload of workers if we use CarriRo, hence introduced.
Initially we considered the introduction of AGV and rented a demonstration machine and conducted a test for a few days, but it was concluded that it is difficult to introduce due to restrictions such as crossing of flow lines with forklift and work layout.
The point which I emphasized in introducing the CarriRo is that it not only reduces the workload, but also it can deal with the traveling line which changes from time to time and that it is possible to carry the baggage at once.
Since we move several workplaces with one picking, the flow line to be conveyed changes each time. Transport machines of the type where tapes are installed on the floor like AGV can not cope with such change of the transfer flow line, but since the carriRo follows the person, it is possible to cope with complicated conveyance flow lines.
Also, because there are luggage of various shapes, there are large items not on the cart inside. It will be possible to carry items that you could not carry at once by stacking it on the CarriRo body may be all at a time.

About half a year passed since the introduction of CarriRo in October 2017. Prior to the introduction, the product was placed on a long cart and transported by pushing it by hand, but by connecting the long cart to the CarriRo and following the worker in the Following mode (towing), the burden of the workers who was towing got reduced.
Also, during transportation, since long carts are being pushed and transported manually, it was difficult for the front view hence difficulty for them to follow up, now it has become possible to secure front view , hence a significant improved effect was obtained.
In terms of improving productivity, products that do not appear on long carts were placed on a pallet and transported from the back with a forklift, but when items were put on the CarriRo body it became possible to carry large items not on long cart at the same time.This helped to improve productivity by transporting with a fork and picking up more than once by a worker.

Currently, CarriRo is limited to use in certain areas. (It is due to the difficulty to return to the predetermined position after the towing.) In response to this result, we are planning to develop the operation by the CarriRo in other areas as well.
In addition, if autonomous project which is currently under development is completed and it shall be introduced, it becomes possible to change from the towing of workers to the operation by towing by autonomous driving, and it is possible to drastically reduce labor. Based on that fact in the future, we are also planning the development of CarriRo while also considering a significant layout change of the workplace.

From the center starting point Red Course, Blue Course in 2 courses in use.