In the 1970s, Japan also introduced European and American AGVs. But the Japanese have a strong transformation ability. They feel that the European and American AGVs are too sophisticated, and they are not very suitable for their market needs. Japan is mainly dominated by high-end light industry. For example, technology industries such as electronics occupy half of the industry, so the Japanese have made localized improvements to AGV, which greatly simplified the technical complexity and the complexity of the car body. The simplified AGV is called AGC (Automated Guided Cart) in Japan. The difference between Cart and Vehicle is still quite big. It can be felt from the application of words. Cart feels more friendly and low-end. Vehicle is biased towards large and comprehensive high-tech. But the Japanese do not think so. They think that what is most practical is what the market needs is the best. This is what they do for the market. The AGV researched in Japan, like Japanese cars, pursues simple but functionally satisfying needs and relatively low cost.
After most of the simple AGV technology is adopted in Japan , this type of AGV is very popular in Japanese and Taiwanese companies. The characteristics of the two are very similar. Because of geographical restrictions, the industries in these two areas are light industries, so there is no need for large AGVs. The full AGV, on the contrary, is simple and easy to use and does not occupy a place. The AGC is more in line with the needs of enterprises. They not only stay on the simplification of AGV, but also make AGC the ultimate. Japanese AGC companies began to modularize AGC, began exporting AGC components abroad, and developed markets by exporting modular components. One of the big markets is China.
In recent years, some domestic companies have also adopted Japanese AGV technology on a large scale. The Japanese AGV is fully integrated with simple production applications (generally a single path, a fixed process), which is only used for handling and does not emphasize the automatic loading and unloading function. In terms of guidance, tape guidance is often used. Japan ’s basic industry is particularly developed, and production companies can configure AGVs with functional devices that are almost as simple as they can make AGV costs to a minimum.
Japan ’s outstanding performance on AGC benefits from their own industrial scenes and transformation capabilities, but in the future, the use of AGC will be limited by the times. Enterprises need not only a simple porter, but a smart logistics. System experts can accept a series of advanced response modes such as dispatching, remote monitoring, and information feedback. And these activities in the intelligent field are not capable of AGC, so adding an intelligent brain to AGC is a topic that all AGC manufacturers must think about.
At present, there are still a lot of Japanese companies active in the AGC market, but it is difficult to see them in the AGV market. The characteristics of the application scenes on the one hand are to promote the development of Japan's own unique AGC, on the other hand, it also restricts Japan's entry High-end AGV field。
