While many companies have partnered to gain market access over the past few years, some outgrow those relationships. Seegrid Corp. today announced that it is terminating its product and distribution agreements with The Raymond Corp., effective upon the conclusion of a 90-day notice period.
“This move will allow us to sell and service the full Seegrid-branded product line across all market segments rather than serving a large portion of the market through Raymond,” stated Joe Pajer, CEO of Seegrid. “We are seeing more customers desire a direct relationship with Seegrid as we roll out our new lift-truck products and release innovative technology enhancements across our product line.”
The companies have been integrating Seegrid’s vision guidance technology with Raymond’s automated lift trucks since 2012.
In 2016, Raymond introduced the Raymond Courier 3020 tow tractor. The company said at the time that it combined Seegrid’s automation expertise with Raymond’s rPort interface and proficiency in warehouse systems.
In 2020, the Courier 3030 received recognition as a finalist for the International Forklift of the Year Award, and it won an Edison Award bronze medal for transportation and logistics.
Seegrid expands in response to demand
In September 2024, Seegrid raised $50 million to expand its automated lift truck line. Over the past decade, the Pittsburgh-based company had recovered from filing for bankruptcy.
Seegrid noted that its autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) have driven more than 15 million miles to date. It has partnered with over 50 global brands and deployed more than 2,000 tow tractors and lift trucks at over 200 customer sites in manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics.
“This shift in go-to-market strategy follows a year marked by record-breaking end-user sales, with particularly high demand for our advanced autonomous lift truck solutions,” Pajer said.
Seegrid told Automated Warehouse that its integrator relationships for other products are not affected.
Relationship with Raymond ends
Seegrid acknowledged its long partnership with Raymond but said it wants direct relationships with customers “throughout their automation journeys.” The company said it will guide customers “from initial consultation through implementation and into operational excellence” using its own best practices and support teams.
“We appreciate Raymond’s partnership in our earlier years,” added Pajer. “At the same time, we have carefully studied our business relationship with Raymond and concluded that we are in a better position to deliver the benefits of our innovative technology to all customers if we do so directly and with Seegrid-branded products only. We are very excited to make our full product line available to all customers.”
Raymond is a division of Toyota and said it has a century of experience in materials handling and intralogistics systems. The Greene, N.Y.-based company has integrated automation, telematics, virtual reality, and advanced energy systems to improve warehouse and distribution center performance.
In September, Raymond and Toyota Material Handling Inc. opened their Energy Solutions Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Broome County, New York. It will make lithium-ion batteries and thin-plate pure-lead batteries for the companies’ products, including Raymond’s electric forklifts.
The company also recently celebrated its employees’ filing of more than 150,000 kaizens, or small changes to improve its internal operations.