OMI HACHIMAN, Japan — An engineer at Japanese forklift maker Mitsubishi Logisnext says he is receiving more inquiries from warehouse operators about self-driving models, even though they cost several times more than conventional versions. The customers say they have forklifts but cannot find operators to drive them.
While a typical midsize forklift sells for about 2 million yen ($13,300), a driverless one costs as much as 15 million yen, including the expense of installing networking infrastructure within the factory. Warehouse operators used to balk at the hefty price tag, but they now see it as worth considering, said Masafumi Monchi, a product developer at Mitsubishi Logisnext.