Global Automated Guided Vehicle Market: Demand for Automation and Safety Generates Lucrative Opportunities

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Transparency Market Research observes that the leading players operating in the global automated guided vehicles market are determined to work on product innovation to remain relevant. As of 2015, the key players held a share of 55.82% in the global market. Toyota Industries Corporation, JBT Corporation, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, and Dematic were leading the pack in 2015. “These companies are expected to make heavy investments in research and development to launch innovative products to win the bigger share of the overall market,” states the lead author of this research report. 

According to the research report, the global automated guided vehicle market is expected to be worth US$2.3 bn by the end of 2024 as compared to US$838.3 mn in 2015. The global market is projected to rise at a CAGR of 12.4% during the forecast period of 2016 and 2024.

Flourishing Automotive Industry in Asia Pacific Propels Regional Market 

On the basis of type, the global automated guided vehicle market is segmented into forklift AGVs, pallet trucks, load transfer AGVs, light load transporters, assembly line vehicles, tugger AGVs, and others. Of these, the tugger AGVs segment is anticipated to grow at an accelerated pace in the coming years at a steady CAGR of 11.9% between 2016 and 2024. 

Geographically, the market is divided into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America, and Latin America. Out of these, Asia Pacific is expected to rise at CAGR of 13.7% between 2016 and 2024. This growth will be backed by the booming automotive industry in the coming years. 

Reduction of Cost of Labor Lures End-use Industries 

Automated guided vehicles play a key role in reducing the cost of labor in various material handling processes. Furthermore, it also ensures smooth operation, carried out in an exceptionally safe environment. These two factors have been the key reasons for the growing global automated guided vehicles market. The initiatives taken by organizations such as The America Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) to eliminate the risks to manual labor while handling materials has triggered a significant demand for automated guided vehicles. Analysts predict that increasing demand for automation in material handling processes across a wide range of industries is expected to shape the trajectory of the overall market in a positive manner. 

The automated guided vehicles equipped with radio frequency technology work collaborate with warehouse control systems and warehouse management systems to ensure efficiency and accuracy of automated guided vehicles. Therefore, as several end-use industries are realizing the benefit of reliability offered by these sophisticated technology, it has resulted in a steady adoption over the past few years. The market is also being driven by the improvement of automated guided vehicles over the years. For instance, usage of lithium batteries as opposed to traditional batteries to increase the uptime and reduce the investment has fared well for the overall market. 

Enormous Development Period to Restrain Growth 

Though the global market is estimated to pace ahead at a phenomenal pace, it needs to overcome few hurdles to achieve its full potential. Currently, the biggest problem for automated guided vehicles manufacturers is the long time required to bring the final product to the market. From transforming a prototype into a commercialized product, manufacturers have to tackle several issues such as parameterization, modeling, and self-calibration. Thus, the exceptionally long development time is likely to hamper the growth of the overall market in the long run.