AMR, AGV & Intralogistics Automation worked example

Manual Travel Reduction Calculator at 92% travel captured by automation: a worked example

What does the result look like when travel captured by automation reaches 92%? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. a manufacturing or warehouse engineer needs to value avoided manual travel for an automation business case

The inputs for this scenario

  • Avoided manual travel distance: 62,000 ft or m (unchanged)
  • Labor cost per distance unit: 0.18 $ / distance unit (unchanged)
  • Travel captured by automation: 92 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 80)
  • Fixed route improvement value: 1,800 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Captured travel reduction value = avoided manual travel distance × labor cost per distance unit × travel captured by automation) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12,067 $ for net manual travel reduction value, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 0.19 $ / distance unit for labor cost per distance unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 10,267 $ for captured travel reduction value.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 1,800 $ for fixed route improvement value.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where travel captured by automation sits at 80% and the headline result is 10,728 $, this scenario comes in 12.48% above the baseline at 12,067 $.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when travel captured by automation is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. It values travel time at a labor rate and assumes captured travel truly disappears; if operators backfill the freed time with other low-value tasks, the savings won't show in headcount.

Results at a glance

  • Net manual travel reduction value: 12,067 $ (headline result)
  • Labor cost per distance unit: 0.19 $ / distance unit
  • Captured travel reduction value: 10,267 $
  • Fixed route improvement value: 1,800 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Manual Travel Reduction Calculator calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.