Self-driving vehicle provider Seegrid Corp. is keeping its foot on the gas to expand the company and meet rising demand, announcing this week that it had increased employee headcount by 35% in 2019.
Pittsburgh-based Seegrid provides navigation systems for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in the industrial automation sector. The company now projects an even larger boost for staffing growth in 2020, citing rising demand for self-driving vehicles in manufacturing, distribution, and e-commerce.
In another recent expansion, the company had hired three new executives in a bid to "transform companies into smart warehouses and factories of the future and prepare for the next generation of materials handling," the firm said in 2018.
Warehouses are increasingly turning to automated vehicles to handle red-hot e-commerce volumes and cope with labor shortages.
That strong demand has also pushed other providers to expand, such as Vecna Robotics' recent move to team with lift truck vendor UniCarriers Americas (UCA) to create a line of autonomous material handling vehicles for warehouses and DCs.
Investors are also helping to fuel that growth, through moves like providing $46 million for logistics technology provider Fetch Robotics to expand its mobile robot business.
