Seegrid Robots at Grocery Chain Giant Eagle Profiled in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh, PA -- (SBWire) -- 03/25/2013 --Four Seegrid robots at grocery chain Giant Eagle Inc.'s distribution center in Crafton read product codes, then roll along preset routes to handle about 30 percent of the freight. Automaker Daimler and sporting goods retailer Cabela's also use Seegrid trucks.

James Knox of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review profiled how grocery leader Giant Eagle is using Seegrid Robotic Industrial Trucks. A national grocery organization that included H.J. Heinz Co., Del Monte, Procter & Gamble Co. and General Mills Inc. adopted the black-and-white Universal Product Code in 1973, forming the first push for a standard way to distinguish crates of canned peas from oatmeal. The first UPC-coded item scanned was a pack of chewing gum on June 26, 1973, in Troy, Ohio.

“The thing that makes bar codes so important today is the number of choices we have, dozens of varieties in everything from orange juice to soup and snow tires,” said Mitchell Weiss, chief operating officer at Seegrid Corp. of Robinson, which builds bar code scanner-equipped robotic trucks that move goods through warehouses and factories.

“The whole distribution chain is incredibly complex. We can go online and order anything and get it in two days” at little cost, he said. With ID codes, “we know where it is, and how to get it and track it and get it where it's going.”

About Seegrid
Founded in 2003, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Seegrid Corporation (http://www.seegrid.com) brings robotic vision-guided technology to the material handling industry. With more than thirty years of innovation and research by leading robotic scientists, engineers, programmers and logistics practitioners worldwide, Seegrid’s exclusive Robotic Industrial Trucks are revolutionizing the movement of materials in manufacturing and distribution environments. Seegrid’s technology transforms industrial vehicles into unmanned, automated pallet trucks and tow tractors that operate without the need for wire, tape, laser, magnet or other costly automated guided vehicle (AGV) guidance systems. Seegrid offers solutions that optimize workflow processes by increasing productivity and reducing costs, creating economic and operational advantages. Fast Company named Seegrid as one of the Top 50 World’s Most Innovative Company in 2013 and among the Top 10 World’s Most Innovative Robotics Company in 2013.

Seegrid Corporation
http://www.seegrid.com
Amanda Merrell
amerrell@seegrid.com
412-379-4500