AUTONOMOUS FORKLIFTONE-TOUCH CALLING

 

At a new-energy manufacturing plant in Huzhou, Zhejiang, China, the REEMAN Ironhide Autonomous Forklift is used for high-frequency point-to-point pallet transport. The configured route is approximately 47 meters, the actual transported load is about 1.5 tons, and the forklift completes approximately 160–200 transport tasks per day. Employees start the workflow through a one-touch remote call button, but the button does more than summon the forklift: it activates a complete task configured during deployment, including travel to the pickup point, pallet recognition, automatic fork alignment, pickup, point-to-point transport, pallet placement, fork withdrawal, subsequent assigned tasks and automatic return to charging. The wireless call supports up to 100 meters without requiring factory-wide network coverage. Using an equipment reference price of approximately US$9,900 and a representative overseas labor-cost model, the estimated equipment-cost payback is approximately 2.6 months, with 2–4 months as a practical initial planning range for comparable high-utilization applications.

 

 

Parameter	Case Data	Operational Meaning
Location	Huzhou, Zhejiang, China	Real customer deployment
Industry	New-energy manufacturing	Internal production logistics
Autonomous Forklift	REEMAN Ironhide	Automated pallet handling
Actual Transported Load	Approx. 1.5 tons	Real application load
Configured Route	Approx. 47 m	Pickup-to-delivery task route
Daily Task Volume	Approx. 160–200 trips	High-frequency repetitive logistics
Assigned Transport Distance/Day	Approx. 7.5–9.4 km	Excludes extra return and repositioning travel
Task Start	One-touch remote call	Employee initiates the predefined workflow
Call Communication Range	Up to 100 m	Call-signal range, not transport limit
Factory-Wide Network Coverage	Not required for call function	Reduces network dependency
Consecutive Tasks	Continue when another task is assigned	Supports continuous operation
Idle State	Automatic return to charging	Closes the operating loop
Equipment Reference Price	Approx. US$9,900	Ironhide + one-touch call button
Estimated Equipment Payback	Approx. 2–4 months	Base-case model: approx. 2.6 months
Distance note: The 7.5–9.4 km/day figure is calculated from the approximately 47 m route multiplied by 160–200 tasks. It excludes empty return travel, repositioning and other movements.

 

 

 

In this application, the call button is not a simple vehicle-summoning device. It is the entry point to a complete autonomous transport task. Before operation begins, the deployment engineer defines the pickup point, delivery point, autonomous route, pallet-handling sequence, charging location and task-completion behavior.

Once those settings are deployed, the employee only needs to press the corresponding button. Ironhide then executes the configured workflow without continuous remote driving.

 

 

The communication architecture can be selected according to the project. The button may communicate directly with Ironhide, transmit through a receiver, send the command through a gateway, or pass the request through a fleet-dispatch system.

The button sends a task-trigger command rather than continuous steering, speed or fork commands. The vehicle or dispatch layer matches the trigger with the task configured during deployment.

Button Press → Task Command → Vehicle / Receiver / Gateway / Dispatch System → Preconfigured Task → Autonomous Execution

 

 

 

Stage	Ironhide Action	Employee Action
Task Request	Receives call request	Press button once
Task Matching	Loads predefined workflow	None
Travel to Pickup	Autonomous navigation	None
Pallet Recognition	Detects assigned pallet/load	None
Position Adjustment	Fine-tunes vehicle pose	None
Fork Alignment	Aligns with pallet openings	None
Automatic Pickup	Lifts the load	None
Transport	Travels to configured destination	None
Delivery	Places pallet and withdraws forks	None
Task Queue Check	Continues when another task is assigned	None
No Remaining Task	Returns to charging point	None

 

 

Video Chapters

• 00:00 One-Touch Remote Call Starts the Autonomous Forklift Task
• 00:13 First Autonomous Pallet Pickup & Transport Task
• 00:35 First Autonomous Pallet Delivery Completed
• 00:48 Second Assigned Autonomous Forklift Task
• 01:00 Second Autonomous Pallet Delivery Completed
• 01:14 Autonomous Forklift Return to Charging Point

 

1. First Autonomous Pickup and 47 m Transport

After receiving the call command, Ironhide autonomously travels to the first pickup location. At the pickup point, it performs pallet recognition, position adjustment, fork alignment and automatic pickup. The approximately 1.5-ton load is then transported along the configured route of about 47 meters to the assigned destination.

 

2. First Delivery: Placement and Fork Withdrawal

At the first delivery point, Ironhide positions the pallet, lowers the load and withdraws its forks. The first autonomous task is complete without the employee following the forklift or controlling the unloading action.

 

3. Second Assigned Task: Continue Without Manual Redispatch

After the first delivery, Ironhide checks the assigned task queue. If another job is already waiting, the forklift continues directly to the next operation instead of returning to charging. This continuous-task logic matters in a factory completing 160–200 transport tasks per day because repetitive jobs can be executed without repeated movement-by-movement dispatch.

 

4. No Remaining Task: Automatic Return to Charging

After the final delivery, Ironhide checks the task queue again. When no additional job is waiting, the forklift automatically returns to its designated charging point, closing the operating loop without manual parking or return driving.

One-Touch Call → Task Execution → Check Queue → Continue if Assigned → Return to Charging if Idle

 

 

A 47 m route is not long in isolation. The business case appears when the same movement is repeated 160–200 times per day. The assigned pickup-to-delivery distance alone equals approximately 7.52–9.40 km per day, before counting empty movement, repositioning, waiting, pickup, unloading or return travel.

The real workload is created by high frequency, repeated coordination and pallet handling. Short-distance, fixed-route, high-frequency tasks are particularly suitable for autonomous forklift deployment because the workflow can be standardized and repeated.

 

 

The ROI model uses the actual Huzhou task volume and applies a representative overseas manufacturing labor-cost scenario. It is designed to answer the question an overseas buyer typically asks: how quickly can the equipment cost be recovered under a comparable high-utilization workload?

ROI Variable	Base-Case Value
Daily Tasks	180 trips
Recoverable Labor per Task	3.5 minutes
Operating Days per Month	25 days
Fully Loaded Labor Cost	US$30/hour
Equipment Reference Price	US$9,900
Recoverable Labor Value	50%
Monthly Operating Allowance	US$150

 

 

• Monthly direct labor value: 180 trips/day × 3.5 min/trip × 25 days ÷ 60 × US$30/hour = US$7,875/month.
• Recoverable labor value: US$7,875 × 50% = US$3,937.50/month.
• Monthly net value after the US$150 operating allowance: US$3,787.50/month.
• Estimated equipment-cost payback: US$9,900 ÷ US$3,787.50 = approximately 2.6 months.

 

 

 

Using approximately 3–4 minutes of direct manual involvement per trip, 160–200 daily tasks correspond to roughly 8–13 labor-hours per day. Across 300 operating days, that equals approximately 2,400–4,000 labor-hours per year, or around 1.2–2.0 full-time-equivalent positions of repetitive transport workload.

The operational value is not necessarily headcount reduction. The greater opportunity is to reassign repetitive forklift transport time to production, quality, maintenance, supervision or other higher-value work.

 

 

Process	Conventional Method	REEMAN One-Touch Workflow
Request Transport	Find forklift or contact driver	Press one button
Task Instructions	Repeated manual communication	Preconfigured
Travel to Pickup	Driver-operated	Autonomous
Pallet Recognition	Driver judgement	Autonomous workflow
Fork Alignment	Manual	Automatic
Pickup	Manual control	Automatic
Transport	Driver-operated	Autonomous
Placement	Manual	Automatic
Next Job	Manual redispatch	Continues if assigned
Return	May require manual driving	Automatic when idle
Charging	Operator involvement may be needed	Automatic return to charging

 

 

No. The one-touch call function does not require factory-wide network coverage. The maximum call communication range in this configuration is up to 100 meters. This is the call-button communication range, not the maximum forklift route. After receiving the command, Ironhide follows the autonomous route configured during deployment.

 

 

 

 

Learn more about REEMAN Ironhide Autonomous Forklift: REEMAN Ironhide Autonomous Forklift Product Page