Customer service game-changer: Robot 'hired' at Hanan Products' plant
Hanan Products has announced a new addition to its Long Island, NY facility: a robot named Hugo that picks and stacks heavy boxes. The fast, accurate, and efficient giant robotic arm does the heavy lifting, so Hanan’s staff doesn’t have to complete this step in the manufacturing/packing process. Moreover, it will help Hanan meet an increased demand for its products. Though this new automation saves time, the company is not laying off workers; staff is being reassigned to other important tasks.
Hugo is named after a now-retired 30-year employee whose favorite job was stacking Hanan’s boxes on pallets for shipping, as the new robotic arm does with finished product from one of the plant’s numerous conveyor belts. Capable of picking and stacking 4000 cases per day, Hugo can stack up to 8 per minute. With boxes weighing as heavy as 40 lbs., this robot performs this demanding job with ease, and improved accuracy. This new technology makes pallets more structurally sound and uniform for storage and shipping.