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LASER GUIDED FORKLIFTS IN INDUSTRY
Corey Blackwell (cjb87@pitt.edu) and Greg Frick (grf10@pitt.edu)
Abstract - As technology progresses, companies worldwide
are trying to remain competitive by utilizing new
innovations. One developing trend is towards the
incorporation of automated systems. This paper will
describe how automated systems, specifically laser guided
forklifts, are being implemented today, how they function in
a work environment, and how they may or may not benefit a
business. In general, an automated guided vehicle relies on
a system of computers and electronics to control and
regulate its movements. We will focus on the most modern
automated guided vehicles that operate using a laser-based
system. These laser guided vehicles (LGVs), relay and
receive information to and from other LGVs and laser
positioning stations, allowing the vehicles to self-locate in a
fashion similar to that used by a GPS.
Our aim is to investigate not only the functioning
mechanics of the LGV forklifts, but also their benefits and
potential drawbacks. Long term savings such as labor costs,
training, maintenance, employee benefits, accident repairs,
and damaged product have been shown to outweigh the
LGVs large price tag. These vehicles also avoid other
human error like accidents, damaged products, and
misplaced pallets. These benefits increase the efficiency of
the job being done, and eliminate safety concerns that arise
when humans are involved. As their popularity increases,
automated guiding vehicles are receiving more attention
from developers, so the capabilities and versatility of the
vehicles are ever expanding. Laser guiding forklifts can help
businesses become more efficient, safe, and successful
through their computerized systems.
THE INEFFICIENCY OF NON-AUTOMATED
TRANSPORT: MANUAL FORKLIFTS
Typically, goods are stored and moved on pallets, which
from Merriam-Webster Online, are “portable platform[s] for
handling, storing, or moving materials and packages” [3].
The pallets are usually moved by manually operated
forklifts.
FIGURE – 1 [2]
THE PICTURE SHOWS A PALLET BEING TRANSPORTED BY A LGV FORKLIFT.
PRODUCT FROM A PRODUCTION LINE HEADING TO A WAREHOUSE OR
TRANSPORT TRUCK WOULD BE CARRIED ON THE PALLET
The process seems simple: drive to where the pallet is
stored, pick it up with the forklift, and deposit the pallet at
its next destination. In a small warehouse, with only one
forklift driver this wouldn’t present many problems; but
many businesses have dozens of forklifts and drivers trying
to coordinate their actions. As a result, mistakes occur, due
to miscommunication and human driving errors. Avoiding
potential problems requires accurate communication and
alertness from all of the drivers at all times. However
accurate they may be, humans are humans, and in an eight
hour shift everyone will make a few mistakes. OSHA
estimates forklifts cause about 85 fatal accidents per year
and around 34900 accidents on the job [2]. As these small
mistakes accumulate efficiency declines, operating costs go
up, and production suffers.
Having people operating forklifts can prove dangerous to
both the product and workers. One could imagine that after
driving a forklift around a factory all day, it would be very
easy for a driver to lose attention for a couple of seconds.
But it only takes a couple of seconds for a forklift driving
through a narrow corridor to veer off of its path and collide
with a stack of stored materials, which could have varying
degrees of negative consequences [4]. For one, the goods
that were rammed into could be damaged, detracting a small
amount of profit from the company. Secondly, the forklift
Key Words – flexible manufacturing system, forklift, laser
guided vehicle, modulated laser, pallet
WHAT IS WRONG WITH WHAT WE HAVE?
The Occupational Outlook Handbook states that “Industrial
engineers determine the most effective ways to use the basic
factors of production—people, machines, materials,
information, and energy—to make a product or provide a
service” [1]. Industrial engineers work towards utilizing
their resources as efficiently as possible in order to
maximize their company’s profits [2]. Industrial Engineers
make decisions daily to either maintain or change working
conditions to reach optimal performance. So naturally
Industrial Engineers are going to evaluate whether it is
beneficial to change from manual to automated forklifts. The
question then arises, what drawbacks exist regarding manual
lifts that keep companies continuing to turn to laser guided
forklifts?
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itself could be damaged. A damaged forklift not only takes
money and time to repair, but while it is out of commission
the entire business suffers from missing a part of its
operations. In a worst case scenario, one bump could cause a
cascading reaction that devastates a large portion of the
goods in a factory. Potential consequences would include
large amounts of lost product, the time spent to restore the
area to previous conditions, and could even end up in people
being trapped in wave of tumbling goods, which could result
in serious injury or death [4].
In summary, even though manually operated forklifts seem
like a natural and sufficient option for businesses to utilize, it
is evident that there are many drawbacks that could be
improved on. That is why the type of forklift system is of
great concern to industrial engineers.
Many of LGVs counterparts including wire-guided vehicles
and magnetic vehicles don’t perform as well or in as many
work environments. The only major drawback on the chart is
initial cost. Because the technology is the newest and most
efficient, upfront cost can sometime prohibit business from
converting from manual to laser guided forklifts. We will
examine latter how these upfront costs can be regained by
companies due the indirect and direct cost savings they
offer.
SELF-GUIDANCE: HOW IT WORKS
Laser guided vehicles, as their name implies, operate using a
system of coordinated lasers. There are receiving sensors
and lasers on the vehicles that work in conjunction with
reflectors placed at various places in the working area. The
laser is usually mounted on the top of the LGV and capable
of rotating 360 degrees. The emitted laser then reflects off
the various reflectors mounted throughout the facility. The
reflected laser is then detected by the sensors on the LGV.
The sensors “collect both the relative distances and angles of
the surrounding reflectors” [5]. The location and angles of
the reflectors, relative to vehicle sensor, are then stored in a
coordinate system, with the vehicle at the origin. This
relative location is then compared to a coordinate system,
called “the model”, which maps the entire work environment
and the reflectors in it. There are two methods that compare
these coordinates in order to calculate the laser guide
vehicle’s position and orientation: fullmap, and quickmap
[6]. Fullmap is based on geometrical matching while
quickmap is based on continuous mapping. The calculating
processes are accordingly different based on the method you
choose.
In an ideal set up, a combination of fullmap and
quickmap methods would be used to create a balance of
accuracy and speed. While the calculation methods might
differ in both instances, the LGV has a reflector map stored
in its computer memory that allows it to constantly update
its position due to both types of calculations [6].
Similar to how the calculating process can differ between
quickmap and fullmap, the type of laser emitted can vary
between modulated or pulsed [7]. A modulated laser has
advantage in both range and accuracy over pulsed lasers. A
modulated laser uses a continuous fan of light that makes a
360 degree revolution eight times a second. Because a
modulated laser can achieve an angular resolution of .006
degrees compared to .2 degrees for pulsed, it is much more
accurate in its calculations [7]. More accurate calculations
lead to precise positioning, and a more efficient machine.
Now that an understanding of how laser guided forklifts
move has been established, we will next examine how they
are assigned tasks and learn why they operate so efficiently.
WHAT IS A LASER GUIDED VEHICLE?
We have established that human error in manual forklifts
leads to unwanted costs. Before we examine how exactly
laser guided forklifts fix these unnecessary costs, we must
discuss the specifics on how they operate. An automated
guided vehicle is “a vehicle equipped with automatic
guidance equipment either electromagnetic (laser) or
optical…[and] is capable of following prescribed guide
paths…vehicle programming and stop selection…and any
other special function required” [2]. Laser guided vehicles
are a subcategory of automated guided vehicles, and they
rely on a system of lasers in order to determine where they
are located.
FIGURE – 2 [2]
THE DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATES LASER-GUIDED VEHICLES OFFER MORE
BENEFITS THAN ITS COUNTERPARTS BESIDES INITIAL COSTS
As the table above illustrates, laser guided vehicles offer the
most benefits to a company. They receive positive ratings in:
precision of movement, speed of movement, cost of system
maintenance, safety of movements, and product stability.
“THE BRAIN”
Businesses who choose to implement laser guided forklifts
often do not buy a single forklift. A fleet of laser guided
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forklifts is used by a firm for a multitude of tasks. While
each individual lift has a computer to track movements,
another computer is needed to manage the fleet. A computer,
known as a “traffic manager”, is able to do just that [2]. The
traffic manager can take human input, like where product
from line 16 should go in the warehouse, and decide which
laser guided forklift should execute the task and when. Its
main benefit is it can calculate not only the most efficient
route the forklift should take, but which forklift should do
the task based on its position. The traffic manager is capable
of keeping track of up to 99 vehicles in a fleet [2]. The
traffic manager relays information to and from all of the
vehicles, essentially acting as the brain behind the entire
operation. Because all of the vehicles are connected to the
traffic manager, all of the tasks completed and locations of
moved product are tracked.
spaces; side lifting, for loads that are moved on the sides;
and dual fork, which can handle two loads at the same time
[8].
On top of doing the standard actions described above,
laser guided forklifts can be utilized creatively with amazing
results. For example, a laser guided forklift can gather
materials to be assembled, hold them while they are being
assembled, and then get more materials to be added to the in
progress product at a different location [2]. In this example
the forklift is replacing a conveyer belt and acting as a
moving assembly line.
LGVS AS MANUFACTURING CELLS
As technology has progressed, more businesses are
beginning to implement flexible manufacturing systems.
Flexible manufacturing systems center on the idea that the
most important aspect of production is speed, and that
specialized machines can optimize speed. Within a flexible
manufacturing system a business has a large number of
machines each doing a specific task. Through automation,
speed and accuracy are improved, costs are cut, and profits
increase. The only drawback is implementing a complete
system of machines is often very expensive. Many
companies thus opt to incorporate partial systems, called
flexible manufacturing cells [2]. This is what laser guided
forklifts can be classified as within a business. While every
process in the factory might not be automated, product
transportation is with laser guided vehicles. This establishes
a manufacturing cell within a company that boosts
production and makes the company more competitive than a
firm who may not have a similar manufacturing cell.
LGVS ENERGY SOURCE
Laser guided vehicles can operate almost incessantly. They
rely on batteries to power themselves and only need to stop
working to change or charge them. A company that is
incorporating laser guided vehicles has multiple options as
to what type of battery system they want to use for their
vehicles. The first method is swapping the batteries. Battery
swapping can be performed either by a person, or by an
additional piece of machinery. The laser guided forklift will
alert the traffic manager when its battery is low. The traffic
manager will then tell the vehicle when to stop by the battery
swapping station. The forklift can then drive up to a machine
that will take out its battery and replace it. This swapping
process takes five to ten minutes but the average battery life
is between eight and twelve hours [2].
The alternative to swapping batteries is to utilize
opportunity charging. In opportunity charging, the forklift
goes to a charging station when it has free time. This break
in its duties is determined by the traffic manager as well.
This process allows the forklift to essentially run without
any breaks, because even when it doesn’t have a task it is
charging. A forklift needs to averages about 12 minutes of
charging per hour [4]. If possible, opportunity charging is
the best option. However, the fleet could be too busy or not
have enough forklifts to cover the tasks of another forklift
going to charge. As the battery material continues to
progress, it will take less time to charge and opportunity
charging with become the standard method.
HOW LASER GUIDED VEHICLES HELP
Now that technical aspects of how laser guided forklifts
operate have been addressed, we can begin to revisit how
laser guided forklifts solve the problems and costs incurred
by manual lifts. The technologies of laser guide vehicles
combine to make them a very promising alternative to
standard manually operated forklifts. Tommy Hessler, CEO
of America in Motion, summarized these benefits saying that
“[Laser] guided vehicles are known to save an additional
20%
on
production
cost…from
less
material
damage…human error and fatigue in operation of forklifts”
[9]. Basically, laser guided vehicles do everything that a
human driving a forklift can do, but in a better, faster, more
efficient, and safer fashion. These are all aspects of
production an industrial engineer is concerned with, making
laser guided vehicles a very enticing option if the startup
capital is available.
FORKLIFT SPECIALIZATION
One of the best aspects of laser guided vehicles is they are
extremely customizable due to their many models and
attachments. This flexibility allows them to complete many
different tasks and operate in many different work
environments. Within the domain of laser guided forklifts,
there are several specializations. Egemin, a laser guided
vehicle manufacturer, has several different models of
forklifts. They build narrow laser guided forklifts, for tight
DIRECT AND INDIRECT COST SAVINGS
The implementation of laser guided vehicles can produce
many cost saving opportunities for the company. First of all,
using laser guided vehicles is less expensive than paying
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humans. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
the average annual salary for forklift operators was $31,500
in May 2010. When a company may have 15 drivers you are
looking at almost a half a million dollars in savings annually.
That is only considering the direct cost of the operators.
Additional cost incurred by the company include benefits,
retirement, and on top of all that, the cost of the actual
vehicle that they are operating. On average, laser guided
vehicles last about ten to fifteen years, while standard lift
trucks usually only last five to seven years [10]. This
difference in lifespan also directly affects costs when a
business will only have to buy about half as many laser
guided forklifts as standard lifts.
When examining potential cost savings, businesses look
farther then labor and the cost of the machines. Because
laser guided vehicles are more accurate in their work than
humans, less goods will be damaged and inventory accuracy
is increased [7]. What this equals to a business is less down
time. Man hours cleaning up damaged product hit or spilled
by lifts are no longer paid for. The actual damage to property
is reduced because it isn’t being hit and having to be
replaced. Imagine for a second if you had an accident with a
manual forklift in a chemical plant. That could be
catastrophic. Explosions, fire, and toxic waste could harm
the employees and surrounding environment due to a
misjudgment by a forklift operator. Laser guided forklifts
offer direct cost cuts on the payroll and multitudes of
indirect cost cuts due to increases in accuracy and precision.
LGV SAFETY
One major factor of cost reductions yet to be addressed is
safety. We have already discussed many benefits laser
guided forklifts offer a company that implements them, but
these benefits are only worth it if they do not compromise
the safety of the company’s employees.
The obvious way to ensure safety is to have mechanisms
built into the vehicles themselves to prevent potentially
catastrophic accidents. A common device for this is a
proximity sensor, which detects nearby objects before
touching them [2]. These sensors operate by sending out
either an electromagnetic field or an infrared beam, and then
seeing if there is a disturbance detected. If an object is
detected, the vehicle is programmed to stop. Also, if deemed
necessary, an alarm can be triggered when a vehicle gets too
close to something. Proximity sensors are very reliable and
long lasting, making them a simple and easy solution to the
problem of collisions.
Bumpers operate in a similar way. The bumpers extend
slightly in front of the vehicle, and whenever their position is
altered, the vehicle is programmed to brake immediately.
Another way to reduce the probability of an accident with
laser guided forklifts is to incorporate zone control
technology. This popular technology consists of a wireless
transmitter placed at an intersection of vehicle paths [5]. If
there is only one vehicle in the area, the junction is
considered clear, allowing the vehicle to pass through. But if
there is another vehicle in the area, the transmitter tells one
or both of the vehicles to stop so that they don’t collide, and
then allows one of them to go through, followed by the
other. Companies like this system because they can easily
install them at any area deemed necessary, and because they
have relatively low costs.
Another aspect to consider when addressing safety is
human interaction with the automated forklifts. Even if the
vehicles operate seamlessly by themselves, a single human
mistake could be costly. Accidents rarely happen because of
mechanical breakdowns in the vehicles, but instead occur
due to human interaction. One common accident scenario is
when somebody enters a zone that is supposed to be off
limits. If the zone was not intended to have humans in it and
has laser guided forklifts driving around, an accident could
easily occur [8]. Also, if the person inspecting the vehicles
misses something crucial, the vehicle will consequently
malfunction on the job.
The procedures necessary to keep laser guided vehicle
operation safe are very important. First, anybody who is
responsible for the operation of the vehicles, including
maintenance personnel, programmers, and operators, should
receive the proper training by their employers before
working with the laser guided forklifts [2]. Also, all other
employees who could possibly come into contact or be in the
same area as the laser guided vehicles should be informed of
possible dangers and actions needed to be taken to avoid
those risks. It is also crucial to have standardized procedures
PRODUCT TRACKING
Another benefit not immediately realized by a company is
the increased efficiency of storing and shipping goods. The
nature of laser guided vehicles makes them a tremendous
asset for product tracking. Product tracking is the process of
keeping track of a product from a production line, to a
warehouse shelf, and finally to a semi.
Because the traffic manger gives out all the commands to
the forklifts it knows where each product is placed. This
provides a full history of an individual good, which can be
analyzed directly and altered if necessary. Alterations
include rotating consumables for freshness and reorganizing
a warehouse to optimize space usage [2].
Consumable freshness is another aspect where the laser
guided forklifts will not fail and a human could. Imagine a
company that produced Capri Sun. If a pallet of Fruit Punch
was made and then brought back to a warehouse shelf by a
laser guided forklift, the product’s location and date of
production would be stored by the traffic manager. Now a
pallet of Fruit Punch is requested for a trailer at loading dock
five. The traffic manager can tell the forklift to retrieve the
pallet with the oldest production date so Capri Sun doesn’t
get old on the shelf. This can eliminate thousands of dollars
in waste when product is left on shelves and spoils because
manual operators do not take the oldest product first to ship.
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regarding the laser guided vehicles. These include
instructions and checklists for inspections, and strict rules
regarding which areas people are not allowed to go in. Extra
precautions can include warning lights on vehicles and
auditory warning signals (especially for blind turns) [5].
So effectively business can avoid most accidents,
including those due to mechanical defects, with proper
training of its employees. As long as the proper safety
procedures are followed, laser guided vehicles can bring
tremendous benefits to a company without compromising,
and possibly even improving, safety conditions.
This scenario illustrates how self-guided forklifts offer
great flexibility in a situation where neither machines nor
people were sufficient options.
QUAKER-TROPICANA-GATORADE
After evaluating their current operations in an attempt to
further improve efficiency, the Atlanta, Georgia QuakerTropicana-Gatorade plant decided that the next place to
improve was finished product movement [11]. With most of
the factory’s processes being automated, it was apparent that
improving the finished product movement could be
improved with automation as well. Following this mindset,
the plant decided to implement a fleet of laser guided
forklifts. These forklifts would deliver pallets of finished
goods from stretch wrappers to three different destinations:
direct loading onto trucks, onto conveyors that transported
the goods to another part of the distribution center, or to
temporary storage lanes. All eleven of the forklifts are able
to perform any of these three tasks and they were equipped
with a fork attachment that allows them to carry either one
or two pallets to increasing efficiency [11]. This ability
provides greater flexibility, as the vehicles can switch
between jobs at any point. Combined with the computer
management system that takes in information from all of the
vehicles and determines what should be done to maximize
efficiency, the single/double fork option allows the vehicles
immense success in cutting company costs.
This plant also illustrates some of the safety features that
make laser guided forklifts a better option than manually
operated vehicles. The vehicles are outfitted with bumpers
that alert and stop the vehicle before running into anything,
and the vehicles also have a three step protocol for accessing
semitrailers. “For safe…access onto trailers, three interlocks
must be met…the dock plate must be properly set and
engaged…a brief visual inspection of the trailer is
conducted… [and] a light curtain ensures no personnel can
be in the trailer” [11]. Securing the dock plate prevents the
lift from falling as it enters the trailer and the light curtain
keeps workers from entering the trailer while a laser guided
lift is loading the trailer. These safety requirements ensure
that the laser guided vehicles maintain a safe working
environment while also providing great efficiency.
LGVS: ALREADY SUCCESSFUL IN THE REAL
WORLD
Many ideas sound good on paper and in theory, but fail to
translate well into a real working environment. Skeptics may
attempt to put that label on laser guided forklifts, but there is
growing evidence of how implementation of laser guided
forklifts can benefit a company. The following case study
examples will serve as evidence of successful laser guided
forklifts in different industries serving separate tasks.
EYE CARE CENTERS OF AMERICA INC.
When Eye Care Centers of America Inc. opened a new plant
in Schertz, Texas, they came across a unique situation.
Despite being a giant plant, there were some tasks that
needed to be addressed on a smaller scale. This resulted in a
conflict. The company had to address small volume needs by
having employees push carts around, instead of using
conveyor systems similar to what was being employed in the
rest of the plant,. Manager Ric Lee said that, “We couldn’t
figure out an economically justifiable conveyor system that
would work for those applications” [11]. Having people
pushing the carts afforded the company flexibility, but came
with its own downsides. Mainly, the required manpower to
push the carts required either the hiring of an extra person,
or pulling current employees away from their work stations
at regular intervals throughout the day. From an industrial
engineering perspective, neither of these options presented
an ideal solution to the problem. On top of the efficiency
drawbacks, this system also opened up potential for human
error when pushing the carts, where a small mistake could
result in spilling glasses materials over the floor, at the least
requiring time to clean up, and in the worst case breaking
materials.
The company’s solution to this problem was to
implement self-guided forklifts to replace the role of people
pushing carts. After the initial time and money was spent on
setting up the forklifts, the company had no problems with
the vehicles. Benefits included employees spending more
time actually working at their stations, less spillage, and the
flexibility that comes with the ability to reprogram the
vehicles as needed.
IS LGV IMPLEMENTATION ETHICAL?
The preamble of the National Society of Professional
Engineers’ (NSPE) Code of Ethics states that “engineers are
expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and
integrity…and must be dedicated to the protection of the
public health, safety, and welfare” [12]. Laser guided
vehicles address these standards in multiple ways.
The main goal of implementing laser guided vehicles is
to increase factors such as efficiency, accuracy, and safety.
By increasing efficiency and accuracy, less raw materials
and products are wasted, which addresses the goal of
sustainable development in the NSPE Code of Ethics. In the
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code, it states that “Sustainable development is the challenge
of meeting human needs for…industrial products…while
conserving and protecting the environmental quality
and…natural resource base” [12]. Every day, human error
results in the wasting of literally tons of materials, which
could be avoided with the successful implementation of laser
guided vehicles. By increasing safety through incorporating
laser guided vehicles, the NSPE Code of Ethics is addressed
again, as employees and their families don’t have to suffer
through injuries, or even death that is more likely to result if
a company uses manually driven forklifts.
The main ethical concern of using laser guided vehicles is
it eliminates the forklift operator’s job. While this is a
legitimate concern, the other cost, safety, and environmental
benefits arguably outweigh this problem. Also, as the
industry of laser guided vehicles emerges, new jobs will
arise centered on the research, production, maintenance,
implementation, and managing of the laser guided vehicles.
Another compelling argument is that without continuing to
improve efficiency and cut costs, businesses would not
remain competitive. If the business as a whole suffers in
order to not eliminate jobs the whole business could end up
in jeopardy of going out of business. This then threatens all
of the employees’ jobs and the business suffers as well.
Overall, the implementation of laser guided vehicles has
mainly ethical benefits that far outweigh the potential job
loss that would occur.
the flexibility that comes with easy programmability and
different attachments makes laser guided forklifts a viable
option for most companies.
With the overwhelming amount of benefits compared to
drawbacks that come with laser guided forklifts, their
prospects for the future look very promising. As more
companies and businesses become interested in and begin to
utilize these vehicles, laser guided forklift technology itself
will inevitably receive more attention. This attention will
foster even more improvements, and a cycle will ensue of
increased interest and increased technology, securing the
place of laser guided forklifts in the industrial future.
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[5] Li, Liu, Liu, Jin, Zhou. “Mapping-based Positioning Strategies for
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[7] L. Andersons. “Automated Guided Vehicle Material Handling Forklifts
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Available: http://www.egeminusa.com/pages/agvs/agvs_flv.html
[9] (2010, August 2). “Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) Define Green
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33273515&locID=upitt_main
[10] (2010, August). R. Rouan. “AGVs spur operator elimination: beverage
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70373391&locID=upitt_main
[12] “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.” National Society of Professional
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http://www.nspe.org/Ethics/CodeofEthics/index.html
THE FUTURE OF LGVS
The main goal of an industrial engineer is maximizing the
use of the resources—people, equipment, raw materials—
that a business interacts with. Industrial engineers need to do
so while also maintaining a safe working environment for
the employees of the company. Replacing manually guided
forklifts with laser guided forklifts fulfills all of these
requirements.
Laser guided forklifts are self-automated vehicles that
integrate laser and computer technology. The work area and
the vehicles are outfitted with laser systems that allow the
traffic manager to keep track of all of the vehicles in a fleet.
The computer then takes locational information from the
vehicles and task inputs from employees, and processes it to
determine the most efficient paths for all of the vehicles.
This system minimizes error and maximizes efficiency.
Laser guided forklifts also offer many improvements
compared to human operated forklifts. The vehicles only
require a couple minutes of break time each day to change
batteries, and their performance does not decline after
working a full day. Also, they can be outfitted with safety
systems to prevent crashes.
The many positive qualities of laser guided forklifts that
have been described all work to make laser guided forklifts a
great option for almost any business. Benefits include
increases in accuracy and increased safety conditions, while
also cutting payroll costs and damaged product cost. Also,
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
“AGV Project Justification.” JBT Corporation. [Online Article]. Available:
http://www.fmcsgvs.com/content/sales/roi.htm
University of Pittsburgh
Twelfth Annual Freshman Conference
Swanson School of Engineering
February 10, 2012
6
Session A9
#2116
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Greg and Corey would like to acknowledge each other for
being great partners through this semester-long process. We
would also like to thank our writing instructor Jill Dione, our
conference co-chair Brynn Aljoe, and our chair Robert
Lorence for helping us construct and edit our papers.
University of Pittsburgh
Twelfth Annual Freshman Conference
Swanson School of Engineering
February 10, 2012
7