How to choose a warehouse route for an AMR pilot

Start with one repeatable movement between two staffed handoff points. A standard cart moving from a pick area to shipping several times a shift is a good candidate to observe. Follow a load from the request until the receiving team accepts it. A robot can handle the trip while a missing label, an occupied bay or an unanswered pickup request still leaves the shipment waiting.

Look for a route whose ends you can control

Walk two candidate routes during a normal shift and a busy one. For each, write down who makes the load ready, what tells the receiver it is coming and who takes it off the robot or cart. If staging depends on finding floor space at the last minute, sort out the handoff first. Start where you can identify one load family, one pickup condition and one accountable receiver. When a short route passes through a busy staging bay, compare it with a longer transfer whose endpoints are easier to control.

Compare MiR250 and OMRON LD-250 on the same loaded route

Give both bidders the same pick-to-ship brief. Use one representative load family, the current pickup and drop-off points, comparable shift demand and the same definition of accepted delivery. Ask each bidder to name the robot, cart or top module, dock, fleet software and interfaces included in its quote. These are two possible configurations to evaluate against the current manual process.

Load and handoff

MiR250. MiR lists the Hook 250 for moving carts and the Shelf Carrier 250 for collecting and delivering shelves. MiR lists a 250 kg maximum payload for the base. Ask the bidder to distinguish the base payload from the complete cart or shelf capacity, then show collection and release with the exact load at both ends. MiR top modules · MiR250 specifications
OMRON LD-250. OMRON lists the LD-250 as a 250 kg payload platform. In the Brd. Klee installation, Danish supplier CESTEK identifies a DOX 250 module and Cart 500 trolleys with pallet positions and handles. OMRON Denmark says warehouse staff fill the carts. Ask which cart and module the bidder will supply and whether workers can still use the agreed manual fallback. OMRON LD-250 product page · CESTEK’s Brd. Klee installation · OMRON Denmark’s Brd. Klee case
Manual baseline. Record how workers currently make the load ready, collect it, move it, confirm receipt and return the empty carrier. Keep the same start and finish events when judging the quoted options.

Route and site constraints

MiR250. The specification distinguishes a corridor, a doorway and two robots passing, and gives different figures for different configurations. Ask the integrator for an assessment of the full loaded combination at the turn into the pickup, the busiest crossing and the approach to the receiving bay. MiR250 specifications
OMRON LD-250. OMRON describes natural-feature navigation for the base and lists MobilePlanner as the control interface. Ask for the same loaded turn and dock assessment, including any site markings or fixtures required by the proposed handoff. OMRON separately announces the LD-150 and LD-300. Obtain the quoted model number, software version and lifecycle terms before comparing bids. OMRON LD-250 product page · OMRON’s next-generation LD announcement
Manual baseline. Record where people wait, how often a receiving bay is occupied and who can reroute or pause work. Use those observations to agree on the shift conditions for the trial. The site safety and facilities leads should review the proposed route and demonstration before live work.

Dispatch, receipt and recovery

MiR250. MiR describes its fleet software and an open REST interface. At BORG, Octant’s Supervisor assigned tasks through MiR Fleet and returned delivery confirmations to the existing manufacturing execution system. Ask which software edition is quoted and who owns the connector and the result that appears on the warehouse screen. MiR software · Octant’s BORG account
OMRON LD-250. OMRON describes job assignment, task monitoring and MQTT communication for FLOW Core. The LD-250 page also describes rerouting around blocked paths. Ask what state the receiver sees when the route stays blocked or the bay is full. Its Brd. Klee report describes Sysmac and an NX102 controller for that installation. Ask whether the bidder proposes a controller-led transfer, a fleet-to-warehouse-system integration or both. Have the bidder show the exact acknowledgement and exception data included in the proposal. LD-250 software overview · OMRON FLOW Core · OMRON’s Brd. Klee case
Manual baseline. Identify the record your team trusts when a cart is delivered without a scan or a task is cancelled after pickup. Keep that ownership explicit when a fleet manager or controller takes over dispatch.

Which proposal should you test first?

If the work starts in a manufacturing execution system and feeds several receiving stations, give the MiR-style integration proposal an early look and ask for proof of delivery confirmation at the receiving station. If a PLC already manages a fixed cart transfer between two points, ask the OMRON bidder to show the controller and carrier as one working handoff. Both approaches still need a path for stranded loads. If the manual baseline meets the delivery window and either robot needs frequent help at the receiving bay, fix the handoff before adding another route. Octant’s BORG account · OMRON Denmark’s Brd. Klee account

Read the two deployments as evidence about scope

BORG Automotive, Zduńska Wola, Poland. Integrator Octant reports that the project started in one production area before expanding. The installed system used three MiR250s, dedicated FORMIGA modules, staging racks, rack sensors and software that returned confirmations to BORG’s manufacturing execution system. In MiR’s account, BORG logistics specialist Damian Frątczak describes production staff ordering components and warehouse staff preparing containers. The two supplier accounts describe the same deployment. BORG’s own site confirms the location. The project reports provide useful evidence about the delivered equipment and division of work, with outcomes reported by project participants. Octant’s installation account · MiR’s case study with BORG staff · BORG’s site directory

Brd. Klee, Denmark. OMRON describes a warehouse-to-shipping route in its November 2024 case and includes comments from warehouse and logistics lead Claus Andersen. OMRON Denmark names Ølgod Elektro as integration partner and CESTEK as supplier of carts and modules. CESTEK’s own account identifies the installed module and trolley. Ask how many carts are served across the workflow and how many are carried per trip. OMRON’s two descriptions use different wording for that count, so use your own load and arrival log to compare the bids. OMRON’s November 2024 report · OMRON Denmark’s account · CESTEK’s case

Ask both bidders to trace a failed transfer

Have the warehouse system owner and integrator agree which system records request, load ready, pickup, drop and receipt. Ask what the receiver sees when a robot reports completion but the load has no receiving acknowledgement. Give the receiving lead responsibility for confirming the physical load and the system owner responsibility for reconciling the record. Ask the integrator to demonstrate how a retried or delayed message avoids a second transfer. Have the shift supervisor decide when an approved manual move takes over and who records it against the original request.

Put a door or lift on the trial only if the first route needs it. MiR’s Blum-Novotest case reports that lift communication errors took software changes to resolve and that employees still trigger missions. Ask the facilities owner and integrator to name who responds when the external device fails to acknowledge the robot. Rehearse that loss of acknowledgement and the recovery in a tabletop session before proposing a live exception test. MiR’s Blum-Novotest case

Check who can support your installed configuration

In Poland, Octant identifies its Wrocław office and a technical assistance contact, alongside the Zduńska Wola deployment account. MiR describes its customer ticket portal for holders of a service-level agreement. In Denmark, OMRON lists a national robotics support contact and offers maintenance and repair services. Its robotics repair page includes LD autonomous mobile robots. These pages identify places to start the support conversation. Get the responsible local team, coverage for your postcode and shift, and response and dispatch terms in writing. Octant contact · MiR customer portal · OMRON Denmark robotics services · OMRON AMR repair services

Ask who owns the base, battery and dock, cart or module, site network, controller and warehouse connector. Name one first contact for a stranded load and require a handoff when another supplier owns the fault. Confirm which parts are held locally, who can restore the configuration after a replacement and what support covers the exact model and software version.

Use this route sheet on both candidates

Fill in one sheet per route. Start with the current manual flow. Then apply the same fields, load family and comparable shift conditions to both robot configurations on the selected route. Count a delivery once the receiver accepts the right load.

Define the transfer. Record load ID and type, pickup and drop-off, the release signal, expected delivery window and who owns the handoff at each end.
Mark shared points. List doors, crossings, queues and staging locations that need review. Record when they get busy and who can resolve an occupied drop-off. Ask the integrator to assess these points with the actual loaded configuration.
Rehearse exceptions. Review an occupied destination, a missing acknowledgement and a cancellation after pickup. Record who owns the load, who reconciles the system record and when the supervisor invokes the approved manual fallback. Use a tabletop rehearsal for cases the site team has yet to approve for live testing.
Count staff time and delivery outcomes. Log request, ready, pickup, drop and acceptance times. Count accepted, late, retried and manually completed moves. Record loading, unloading, waiting, empty-carrier returns and recovery separately so each shift can explain where the work went.

Worked example. Suppose your manual sample takes 30 staff minutes across 10 accepted transfers. In a hypothetical robot trial, loading and unloading take 12 staff minutes, routine dispatch takes six, and one blocked handoff takes 14 to resolve. That is 32 staff minutes across 10 transfers if all are accepted. Record whether the blocked load arrived on time as well. Compare the shifts on both staff effort and accepted deliveries, using the same start and end events.

Advance the route whose receiving team can confirm delivery consistently and whose supervisor can explain what happens to a load when the normal path fails. Agree on the service window and how much manual recovery the team can absorb before the trial. Keep the route bounded until the team can account for every load, including fallback moves. Evaluate a second route separately when both would compete for the same doorway or staging bay.

Expanded November 9, 2026. Added a matched MiR250 and OMRON LD-250 comparison, deployment evidence, integration recovery checks and regional support contacts.

Sources & evidence

Official sources reviewed November 9, 2026. Vendor materials establish descriptions, not independently measured performance. Original evaluation criteria are our analysis.

Editorial status. Published November 8, 2026. This is source review and original analysis, not a hands-on test. Read our selection, corrections, and update policy ↗