Meet Trey, Gideon’s autonomous trailer (un)loading forklift

Delivering more with less while facing an unprecedented combination of challenges - this is the state of the supply chain today. The labor is scarce, compounding the pressure caused by changing customer expectations and the rise of e-commerce and omnichannel. Decreasing inventories raise exposure to external shocks, with geopolitical concerns now overtaking the pandemic.

It's not surprising that supply chain operators are increasingly looking at new automation technologies. The world needs new solutions.

Key supply chain trends for 2022

The latest statistics provide a clear picture of these trends.

• In the U.S., nearly two-thirds of all job openings in the transportation, warehousing, and utilities sector remained unfilled in February 2022. And the Great Resignation is still very much going on – half of the new hires just managed to cover the number of quits.
• Consumer spending is up, and with it, the volumes of goods passing through the supply chains. In the U.S., personal expenditure for durable goods (a key freight indicator) is up by a third compared to February 2020.
• Total inventory (at retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers) to sales ratio dropped from the pre-pandemic 1.4 to just 1.26 in February 2022.

The data on decreasing inventory underline how important it is to identify flexible and efficient automation solutions that can solve supply chain challenges and increase resilience.

For many companies, existing technologies aren't enough. Over 80% of all warehouses still have no automation whatsoever, according to the latest Warehouse Automation report from Research and Markets.

New solutions

However, the demand for automation is surging, spurred by new, innovative technologies. Thanks to the latest advances in autonomous robotics, new solutions can now automate some manual operations for the first time, adding capacity without compromising safety and efficiency.

Just like the forklift transformed material handling, autonomous robotics can offer a similar transformation – keeping people at the center and making their jobs easier, safer, and ultimately more rewarding.

Gideon, the robotics and AI solutions company, launched just such a new solution – Trey, the self-driving forklift that loads and unloads pallets from truck trailers entirely autonomously.

Gideon's Trey saves more than 80% of a worker's time, and it operates safely and consistently in dynamic environments. It's flexible, easy to use, and deploy, with minimal impact on the existing infrastructure.

Automation made simple

Trey augments human talent, enabling your employees to focus on tasks with higher added value. Trey's benefits act on multiple levels acting in synergy for a fast time-to-value:

• Relieving labor shortage – Trey helps eliminate waste and production downtime, letting loading dock employees become robot fleet supervisors and focus on value-added tasks.
• Raising throughput – Two or more Treys per (un)loading task significantly boost capacity.
• Improving process efficiency and stability – The solution automates, orchestrates, and optimizes inefficient workflows.
• Increasing the bottom line – Trey helps lower labor and operations costs, including training and safety. It helps eliminate goods and equipment damage costs.
• Simple automation, at scale – The solution is easy to deploy, use, and scale. The impact on companies' existing infrastructure and workflows is minimal.
• Reducing safety incidents – Gideon technology brings safety beyond industry standards for safety loading docks and lower injury-related costs.

AI and 3D vision

Gideon's new trailer (un)loading solution combines the company's proprietary autonomy technology powered by AI and 3D vision, its user-friendly workflow orchestration software, and a robust, purpose-made chassis by Infinity Machine & Engineering Corp.

What makes Trey so efficient and safe to work in loading docks around people? Put simply, its “eyes” and “brains” make all the difference.

Gideon's autonomy technology relies on deep learning, computer vision, and stereovision cameras that the company developed for best performance. This is why Gideon's robots understand their environment, enabling them to navigate any busy loading dock. They work safely alongside people and equipment by adjusting to their movements and the ever-changing loading dock environment.

Keeping people at the center

Thanks to Gideon's proprietary technology that ensures its reliability and ease of use, Trey helps companies grow their operations without compromising on safety or efficiency. As an innovative, pioneering solution, it transforms trailer operations into standardized, efficient, safe, and reliable processes.

It's an entirely new tool that empowers millions of essential workers who keep our supply chains running, keeping them as automation designers and supervisors at the center of the process.

Discover how to bring your loading dock up to speed with Trey.