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Seegrid Corporation, a leader in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solutions for material handling, announced today the appointment of Tom Panzarella to the position of Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this critical leadership role, Panzarella will spearhead Seegrid’s technological initiatives to continue guiding the development of cutting-edge autonomous solutions that work—meeting evolving customer needs and delivering unmatched ROI. Panzarella’s appointment underscores Seegrid's commitment to innovation and industry advancement in the rapidly evolving field of robotics and automation. "I am very pleased to appoint Tom to the role of Chief Technology Officer," said CEO and President Joe Pajer. "Tom's exceptional leadership and dedication to technological innovation have been pivotal in shaping Seegrid's market leading AMR solutions. With Tom at the helm of our technology and development teams, I am confident that Seegrid will continue to revolutionize the future of material handling automation." As CTO, Panzarella will lead Seegrid's technology initiatives, including the development of cutting-edge autonomous solutions that empower customers to optimize their material handling workflows. His strategic vision will drive the advancement of Seegrid's proprietary autonomy technology, further enhancing the safety, efficiency, and flexibility of its proven AMRs. "I am honored to take on the role of Chief Technology Officer at Seegrid," said Panzarella. "Seegrid's commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions is truly inspiring, and I am excited to lead our talented team of engineers as we continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in autonomous material handling." Panzarella began working with Seegrid in 2017 while he was building his first perception-based start-up company, Love Park Robotics (LPR). Seegrid partnered with LPR to successfully apply LPR's pallet detection technology in its AMR solutions. After LPR was acquired in 2018 by ifm, he founded a second start-up named Box Robotics. Box was focused on rebuilding the AGV perception stack with human-like spatial awareness by leveraging long-range 3D LiDAR, Deep Learning, and HD Maps—in direct alignment with Seegrid's long-term technology vision. Seegrid acquired Box Robotics in September 2020, making Panzarella and his co-founder John Spletzer technology leaders within the company, focused on the successful commercialization of the Box technology stack in our AMR solutions today. Panzarella has over 27 years of experience in engineering and robotics. As the new CTO, Panzarella will steer Seegrid’s technology and product development, working closely with our customers on the required technology and innovation initiatives, and represent Seegrid across the technical bodies that are driving the growth of autonomy across the industry. About Seegrid Seegrid, a leader in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solutions for material handling solutions, combines AMR technology, enterprise software, and best-in-class services for complete, connected automated workflows. With over 13 million autonomous production miles driven to date, Seegrid Palion™ AMRs are reliable, flexible, and proven. The world’s largest manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics companies rely on Seegrid. We are partnered with over 50 global brands where 2,000+ AMRs are deployed within 200+ customer sites. From our dependable Palion Tow Tractor to our industry-leading Lift Truck solutions, let us work with you to embrace the future of autonomous material handling. Contact Jennifer Bauman media@seegrid.com 412-379-4500
Two-in-one pallet truck and motorized sled avoids need to haul two pieces of equipment from truck to store, reduces manual handling by 50 percent.GREENVILLE, N.C. (June 18, 2026) – Yale Lift Truck Technologies announces that the Yale Route Runner™ direct-store-delivery solution has been recognized as one of the year’s most innovative products by the Business Intelligence Group’s BIG Innovation Awards. The two-in-one solution overhauls traditional direct-store-delivery workflows by allowing drivers to haul just one piece of equipment from truck to store and removing the need to transfer inventory from a pallet truck to a smaller piece of equipment for indoor use. This workflow adjustment greatly reduces the risk of strains and injuries from manual labor throughout the course of a shift, and cuts manual materials handling by up to 50 percent.Typically, direct-store delivery workflows require drivers to manage multiple pieces of equipment: a pallet truck for unloading trailers and a separate handcart or sled for navigating inside tight, indoor retail spaces. Yale Route Runner enables drivers to simply detach the nested sled from the larger pallet truck and take advantage of its small footprint in tight retail spaces – no need for downstacking products from one piece of equipment to another. The motorized sled provides an ergonomic power assist to reduce manual strain when navigating inclines or traversing thresholds, and can raise the load platform approximately 18 inches during restocking to reduce bending and lifting.Avoiding the need to manually transfer product from a pallet truck to a small piece of equipment adds up to a major impact. Over a typical 9-stop route, drivers can lift 27,000 fewer pounds, take nearly 2,000 fewer steps and shorten their route by 63 minutes – possibly enabling drivers to make an additional stop.“Direct-store delivery affects our everyday lives in ways we don’t even think about – stocking convenience stores with soda and other beverages, bringing new supplies to our offices and schools, and more,” said Kevin McWilliams, Director, Major Accounts, Yale Lift Truck Technologies. “With Yale Route Runner, we focused our innovation efforts on re-engineering the process of direct-store delivery and making it easier for drivers to execute and meet the needs of retail customers.”In addition to the two-in-one sled and pallet jack, Yale’s comprehensive approach to direct-store delivery also includes matching pallets to round out the system.About Yale Lift Truck TechnologiesYale Lift Truck Technologies leverages over a century of material handling experience and substantial investment in innovation to bring the most advanced technology-driven lift truck solutions to market. The company offers a full line of award-winning lift trucks, including reach trucks, order pickers, turret trucks, pallet jacks and trucks, pallet stackers, tow tractors and counterbalanced forklifts, as well as powerful operator assist solutions, proven robotics and a wide range of power sources to help customers adapt to today’s demanding supply chain. Yale and its independent dealer network support these solutions with comprehensive after-sales service, parts, financing and training.ContactBrad Long252-412-3652brad.long@hyster-yale.com
Yale Relay allows warehouses to adopt automated lift trucks with no coding requiredGREENVILLE, N.C.(March 24, 2026) – Yale Lift Truck Technologies announces a Best in Biz Award win for the company’s Yale Relay lift truck automation solution. Yale Relay took home silver in the Most innovative products of the year – enterprise category, which honors outstanding solutions for businesses. The intuitive drag-and drop automation portal avoids the need for software coding to set up and adjust automated lift trucks, addressing the shortage of qualified lift truck operators and avoiding exposure to the limited pool of software engineers that automation solutions often require.Yale Relay is the result of nearly a decade of customer-driven refinement and addresses the complexity and cost challenges that frequently pose roadblocks to automation adoption. Warehouses can implement automated lift trucks in as little as one day. Mapping the facility is as easy as operating the truck through the warehouse manually, while setting and adjusting routes requires simply dragging and dropping waypoints on an interactive map. Warehouses can also take advantage of a rental model that rolls all costs into a single monthly fee, rather than making a large, upfront capital expenditure.“For years, customers have told us how difficult it is to find qualified warehouse workers, and that automation has been too expensive and complex to be a realistic solution for their operation,” said Kyle Smart, Sales Manager, Robotics and Automation, Yale Lift Truck Technologies. “We engineered Yale Relay not only as a path to addressing the labor shortage, but as a way to make automation more accessible.” Cloud-based access enables warehouse managers to monitor and update their fleet of automated lift trucks across multiple facilities, helping reduce the need for on-site interventions. The platform easily integrates with other common warehouse systems like facility fire alarms, interactive input boxes, programmable logic controllers, warehouse management systems and more.Yale Relay users receive access to training, parts and maintenance from the Yale® dealer network. This unified, local service experience contrasts with other approaches to automation support that may involve managing against disjointed integration, coordinating service from multiple stakeholders or waiting for offshore support.About Yale Lift Truck TechnologiesYale Lift Truck Technologies has over a century of material handling experience and substantial investment in innovation to bring the most advanced technology-driven lift truck solutions to market. The company offers a full line of award-winning lift trucks, including reach trucks, order pickers, turret trucks, pallet jacks and trucks, pallet stackers, tow tractors and counterbalanced forklifts, as well as powerful operator assist solutions, proven robotics and a wide range of power sources to help customers adapt to today’s demanding supply chain. Yale and its independent dealer network support these solutions with comprehensive after-sales service, parts, financing and training.Yale Lift Truck Technologies is a division of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyster-Yale Inc. (NYSE:HY) which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and operates globally.ContactBrad LongYale Lift Truck Technologies252-412-3652brad.long@hyster-yale.com
Greenville, N.C. (Nov. 8, 2023) – Coinciding with National STEM Day, Hyster-Yale Group announces several milestones and opportunities for engineering students through its longstanding collaborations with academic and career development programs from coast to coast. The company is sponsoring dozens of senior capstone projects, providing mentorship and internship opportunities, opening a new innovation lab and lending industry perspective to new university engineering programs. Innovation Lab at the University of Portland The Hyster-Yale Group Innovation Lab will resume in January 2024 at the new Shiley-Marcos Center for Design and Innovation at the University of Portland. The lab was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and construction of the new facility. The lab, which has been a model for other industry-university cooperation, immerses student interns in real engineering and product development projects. Four interns have already been hired into development and innovation roles with the company. The lab is led by Chief Technologist of Innovation for Hyster-Yale Group, Ed Stilwell, who created and taught an innovation course for several years at the university. Internships and Advisory Councils The company works with other colleges in the communities where it operates to provide internship opportunities, including East Carolina University, Berea College, Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky. Hyster-Yale Group also serves alongside companies such as Lockheed Martin and Lexmark on the Eastern Kentucky University engineering advisory council. Anthony Wasson, Value Stream Manager, and Ken Deters, Director of Service Operations, are active on the council, which was established to provide industry perspective to the development and operation of the school’s new degree program in manufacturing engineering. At East Carolina University, the Warranty and Quality Improvement Manager for Hyster-Yale Group, John Roberson, also serves on an engineering advisory council. Hyster-Yale Group’s Counterbalanced Development Center (CBDC) in Oregon is in the planning process for 2024 internships with the Multiple Engineering Co-Operative Program (MECOP), a non-profit that works with member companies and universities in the Pacific Northwest to cultivate the highest level of engineering and business graduates by bridging academic theory with industry reality. Since 2000, more than 95 interns across mechanical, electrical, computer engineering and computer science disciplines have worked at the CBDC supporting various product development projects. At least 15 former MECOP interns are employed across the development team, working in design, validation, program management, software and simulation or virtual testing. Hyster-Yale Group posts internship opportunities for fall, spring and summer semesters at several locations. To learn more about all available internship opportunities or to apply, visit hyster-yalecareers.com/. University Capstone Projects Each year, the CBDC sponsors capstone projects for 35 to 40 seniors from local universities. The students work in teams on eight to 10 real-world and often multi-discipline engineering problems provided by Hyster-Yale Group. In Greenville, North Carolina, the company’s Warehouse Product Development Center and manufacturing facility also host engineering students from East Carolina University completing their capstone projects. In both cases, students are guided through the process of developing viable solutions by mentors from the company, accessing valuable experience and insight to the field and developing relationships in the industry as they progress. Student teams have created specialized test equipment, innovative human-machine interfaces, improvements to forklift operator comfort, new sensing methods and other innovations at the leading edge of the materials handling industry. About Hyster-Yale Group Hyster-Yale Group, Inc., designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and services a comprehensive line of lift trucks, attachments and aftermarket parts marketed globally primarily under the Hyster® and Yale® brand names. Subsidiaries of Hyster-Yale Group include Bolzoni S.p.A., a leading worldwide producer of attachments, forks and lift tables marketed under the Bolzoni®, Auramo® and Meyer® brand names, and Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, an alternative-power technology company focused on fuel cell stacks and engines. Hyster-Yale Group also has an unconsolidated joint venture in Japan (Sumitomo NACCO). Hyster-Yale Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE:HY). Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and its subsidiaries, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, employ approximately 8,300 people worldwide. For more information about Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and its subsidiaries, visit the Company's website at www.hyster-yale.com. Contact Melissa Cashwell Hyster-Yale Group 252-864-3571 melissa.cashwell@hyster-yale.com