Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO), which includes Toyota Material Handling Group and Toyota Automated Logistics Group, and Gideon, have signed an investment agreement with immediate effect.
The technology company Gideon develops and offers technologies for autonomous mobile robotics (AMR) behaviour and application stack for automating specific processes in warehouse and manufacturing environments.
For TICO, this strategic partnership and investment creates possibilities to simplify automated vehicle systems through standardization, reduced deployment times and increasing flexibility, adaptability and scalability.
TICO’s global autonomous vehicle software house, T-Hive, will have a leading role in applying and leveraging Gideon’s technology within specific areas of TICO’s global automated vehicle portfolio.
Gideon’s modern software architecture and artificial intelligence algorithms will further strengthen TICO’s capabilities in the automation of vehicles.
Trailer unloading and loading, as well as collaborative case picking for retail order fulfillment, are examples of specific applications that Gideon currently offers to its customers.
For Gideon, the investment allows the company to benefit from Toyota’s world leading manufacturing expertise, broad market access and global service network.
Josip Ćesić, Gideon CEO, says: “Toyota’s long-standing legacy as a pioneer in lean manufacturing practices, driven by a relentless commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability, underpins their expertise with both manual and automated material handling equipment.
“Their unparalleled manufacturing capacity, coupled with a robust global sales and service network, combined with Gideon’s cutting-edge autonomy and application technology, creates a groundbreaking value proposition for the warehouse and manufacturing automation sector.”
Norio Wakabayashi, senior executive officer, Toyota Industries Corporation, says: “Gideon has developed impressive vision modules enabling flexible, intelligent autonomous behavior and user and deployment friendliness that will provide added value for our customers in the coming years.
“TICO already holds a strong position in automated vehicles, but this strategic investment underlines our commitment to delivering market leading mobile automation.”