Case study · FMCG manufacturing · Poland
PLN 2.5 million was hiding in seven forklift routes.
Three shifts. Seven line-feeding routes. One forklift and one operator per route, per shift. Everyone agreed the transport “worked”. Nobody had measured what it really cost — or what it would take to automate it without a capital budget.
The starting point
A manual line-feeding operation that nobody had measured.
A food and consumer-goods manufacturer supplied its production lines from storage with counterbalance forklifts. Each of seven routes had its own truck and its own operator on every shift — 21 operator shifts a day to keep the lines fed.
- 7 fixed transport routes between storage, production lines and drop-off areas
- 3 shifts, each route served by 1 forklift and 1 operator per shift
- Monthly cost per route (3 operators + 1 forklift): about PLN 24,500
- The question: can robots take over the full shift cycle — and does the money work without a capital budget?
What we did
Measure first. Simulate second. Then talk about robots.
- 01 · AUDIT
On-site measurement
We walked every route and measured real distances, aisle widths, pick-up and drop-off points, and the line-feeding demand of each production line across all three shifts.
ProLogLab audit toolkit - 02 · MODEL
Flow model
Field data became a route-by-route transport model: how many loads, from where to where, how often — per shift, not per average day.
Measured, not estimated - 03 · SIMULATE
Fleet sizing
Our fleet simulation tested the full three-shift cycle on the real layout and sized the fleet that keeps every line supplied: 7 autonomous mobile robots.
Full shift cycle simulated - 04 · DECIDE
Business case
We compared today’s cost with a robots-as-a-service model over 36 months — monthly fee per robot, no upfront investment.
Zero CAPEX
Before and after
Same routes. Same lines. A different way to move the loads.
7 forklifts · 21 operator shifts
- One truck and one operator per route, per shift
- Transport capacity tied to staffing
Monthly costPLN 171,500
7 autonomous mobile robots
- Fleet sized by simulation for the full three-shift cycle
- Robots as a monthly service — no upfront investment
Monthly costPLN 101,500
The numbers
PLN 70,000 a month, every month, for three years.
Monthly intralogistics cost on the seven routes, PLN.
| Per route / month | 7 routes / month | 36 months | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual: 3 operators + 1 forklift | PLN 24,500 | PLN 171,500 | PLN 6,174,000 |
| AMR as a service: 1 robot | PLN 14,500 | PLN 101,500 | PLN 3,654,000 |
| Savings | PLN 10,000 | PLN 70,000 | PLN 2,520,000 |
Business case over 36 months; robot cost as a monthly service fee with no capital expenditure. Client name withheld for confidentiality.
What made the difference
Three things we would do the same way again.
Measure on site, not from drawings
Real distances, aisles and pick-up points decide fleet size. Layout drawings and averages hide the peaks that break a robot fleet.
Simulate the whole shift cycle
A fleet that copes with one busy hour is not the same as a fleet that runs three shifts. Sizing on the full cycle avoids buying robots you don’t need — or too few.
Compare operating cost, not robot price
The decision was made on monthly cost against today’s operation. As a service, the business case needed no capital budget at all.
What are your forklift routes really costing you?
Start with the same audit we used here. Run the free site readiness checklist on your next walk-through, or book a 30-minute review and we’ll tell you whether your routes have a business case for AMRs.