Case Study

OEM-grade conveyors integrated with Dutch AGVs for a lights-out automotive plant.

Industry: Transportation

A US automotive parts manufacturer was bringing a new lights-out plastic parts plant on-line, a facility designed to run continuously without operators on the production floor. Plastic parts had to flow automatically from production machines all the way to the shipping area, with the only human presence at the very end of the line. The customer’s automation strategy depended on a fleet of Automated Guided Vehicles supplied by an AGV manufacturer in the Netherlands, but those AGVs needed precision-engineered conveyors as integrated OEM components for transferring loads between stations, and the conveyors had to integrate seamlessly with both the AGVs and the legacy plant equipment.

The Dutch AGV manufacturer, Frog Navigation Systems BV, selected Han-Tek as their conveyor partner. Han-Tek delivered the engineered chain-driven live roller conveyors that became part of the AGVs themselves, plus the complementary stationary station-side conveyors that interface with them, all engineered, built, and delivered within an aggressive eight-week window from spec finalization to overseas delivery.

Their Challenge:

Equip a fully automated lights-out plastic parts plant with a conveyor backbone capable of moving parts from production through to shipping with no operator intervention on the floor.
Engineer chain-driven live roller (CDLR) conveyors precise enough to be mounted as integrated OEM components on top of AGVs, not aftermarket additions, with mechanical and electrical interfaces specified by the AGV manufacturer.
Coordinate across an international supply chain, with US conveyor manufacturing shipping to Dutch AGV assembly before final deployment to the US end-user plant, all within roughly an eight-week window from specification to delivery in the Netherlands.
Match the AGV mechanical envelope: a 4-inch overall height (low-profile to fit on the AGV chassis), a 96-inch by 45-inch footprint, support on three or four points, 25 FPM operating speed, all engineered to integrate with Frog-supplied DC drive motors and J-box electrical interfaces.
Ensure load-transfer performance, dimensional tolerances, and conveyor controls integrated cleanly with the AGV navigation and control system, since any interface mismatch between conveyor and AGV would stop the line in a lights-out plant where no operator could intervene.

Our Solution:

Han-Tek partnered with Frog Navigation Systems BV (Utrecht, Netherlands) to deliver an OEM-grade conveyor system as part of Frog’s AGV product. The conveyors were engineered to Frog’s mechanical and electrical specifications and shipped directly to their facility in the Netherlands for AGV integration before final deployment to the US plant.
Han-Tek specified and delivered chain-driven live roller conveyors fabricated by Omni Metalcraft (drawing series 316619), with 3.5-inch rollers on 6-inch centers, 7-inch by 9.8-pound structural channel frames, 102101-series sealed GP bearings, dual 60A20 sprockets welded to tubes, 1 HP side-mounted drives, and 25 FPM fixed-speed operation, all designed for the steel-pallet-on-steel-roller load profile typical of automotive parts handling.
Conveyor specifications were coordinated with Frog’s DC drive motors and J-box electrical interfaces so the integrated AGV could move under its own power while the conveyor section transferred loads predictably at every station, with no integration gap between mobile and fixed automation.
Han-Tek supplied complementary stationary station-side conveyors that interface with the AGV-mounted conveyors at load-transfer points, providing a complete handoff path between the mobile AGV fleet and the fixed conveyor backbone of the plant.
Han-Tek’s project manager (Duane Hawkins, PE) coordinated daily across the international project team: Frog’s NL engineering team, Han-Tek’s in-house design and procurement, Omni Metalcraft’s manufacturing facility, and the customer’s GM-side engineering reviewers. Every milestone landed on schedule, including the December 2002 GM engineering review, late-December release for manufacturing, and the January 25, 2003 conveyor delivery deadline to the Netherlands.

The Results:

On-time launch: The lights-out plastic parts plant went live on schedule, with the conveyor system fully operational and integrated with the AGV network.
Lights-out operation achieved: The system runs continuously without operator intervention on the production floor, exactly as designed, with human presence only at the end-of-line shipping area.
Eight-week design-to-delivery window met: From conveyor specification (late November 2002) to delivery in Utrecht NL (late January 2003), the project hit the aggressive timeline required to support the customer’s lights-out plant launch.
OEM-grade partnership validated: Han-Tek’s selection by an international AGV manufacturer for OEM-grade conveyor integration demonstrated capability as a precision conveyor partner for global automation OEMs, not just a domestic systems integrator.
International supply chain coordinated: Han-Tek managed a US-conveyor-build-to-Dutch-AGV-integration-to-US-deployment supply chain inside the eight-week window without supply or schedule slips.
Long-term labor savings: The lights-out design built into the system delivers ongoing operational cost savings across the life of the facility, exactly as the customer’s automation strategy projected.
Ongoing Frog Navigation partnership: The original GM-deployment project opened the door to additional Frog-related work over subsequent years, including stretch-wrapping conveyors, centralized palletizing systems, magnet installations, and lift integrations.

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