Linde Material Handling’s French subsidiary, Fenwick-Linde, has signed an agreement to deploy automated logistics solutions at the Jean-Luc Lagardère site of aircraft manufacturer Airbus in Toulouse.

The automated solutions, which will be provided in collaboration with Fenwick-Linde’s regional dealer Bastide Manutention, includes retractable-mast autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and R-MATIC driverless reach trucks.

Fenwick-Linde says the integration of its automated systems will contribute to the modernisation of Airbus’s new assembly line for the A320 family of aircraft, which was recently inaugurated at the site.

The automation project will be rolled out in several phases over more than a year, dependent on the opening of each station deployed by Airbus, Fenwick-Linde states.

It adds the reach trucks provide better supply chain management while the AGVs handle the supply and evacuation of “aircraft side” assembly workstations and the replenishment of stock.

The automated management of stocks allows for a height of up to 8m.

Jérémy Chaput, who is in charge of deploying this intralogistics project for Fenwick-Linde, says the company is “on hand to support and respond to Airbus' needs at every stage in this strategic project, from solution design to commissioning and any programming adjustments required”.