Automated Guided Vehicle Systems, edited by R.H. Hollier, IFS (Publications) Ltd, Bedford, U.K., 02 1987 (Price £39)

AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLE SYSTEMS, edited by R.H. Hollier, IFS (Publications) Ltd, Bedford, U.K., February 1987 (Price £39). Not to be confused with the conference proceedings of the same name, editor and publisher; this 360 page book is the eleventh in the International Trends in Manufacturing Technology series of publications. The idea behind them is that each volume contains the distilled knowledge of a particular aspect of manufacturing technology. Their format is consistent in that they contain a series of published and unpublished papers which are updated to reflect any important changes between their original presentation and the publication date of the book. The book is in five sections: Introduction, Design, Operation, Applications, and Developments. The first section deals with the market size, economics, socio-technical considerations and safety aspects of automated guided vehicle systems. The four papers that form the second section deal thoroughly with both system and vehicle design. The operational factors with particular emphasis on simulation associated with obtaining the optimal automated guided vehicle system are contained in the third section. A third of the book (section 4) is rightly taken up with the applications of agvs in both Flexible Manufacturing & Assembly Systems, and Warehousing. The majority of the nine papers are associated with real case studies, with plenty of "what we did and why". In last section are six papers that deal with the various new, and near future development in automated guided vehicle systems. Inevitably they are associated with autonomous and free roaming "robot vehicles". IFS are to be both congratulated and criticised with the papers they have chosen for this exciting book. Criticism because the choice of papers misses an opportunity to represent the views of all the manufacturers of automated guided vehicles. There are 3 papers from Digitron, 2 from Jungheinrich, 2 from BT-Carrago, 2 from ACS, 1 from Seri but none from Wagner, CFC, Malthouse Hunter, Telelift or PHB. This said, they are to be congratulated on providing a book that covers all aspects of automated guided vehicle systems in fine and clear detail.