Keeping Data Center Manufacturing Moving: How RedViking AGVs and AMRs Help Scale Production
The consistent growth of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and hyperscale infrastructure is driving extremely high demand for data centers worldwide. Behind every new facility, however, is a complex manufacturing process that requires cooling systems, power distribution equipment, battery storage solutions, and modular assemblies to be fabricated, assembled, tested, and shipped on increasingly aggressive timelines.
As manufacturers work to meet this demand, many are focusing on automation technologies that improve productivity on the factory floor. Yet one of the most overlooked challenges is not fabrication itself, but the movement of materials between operations. Even the most efficient welding, assembly, and testing stations can become bottlenecks when large skids and modules are delayed in transit or waiting for available transportation.
This is where Lincoln Electric® RedViking® Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) help manufacturers rethink material flow and build more scalable production systems.
The Growing Demand for Modular Data Center Infrastructure
The data center industry is increasingly embracing modular construction. Instead of assembling systems entirely on-site, manufacturers are building larger portions of critical infrastructure within controlled factory environments before shipping them to their final destination.
However, moving more work onto the production floor also increases the need for efficient material handling. Large assemblies often travel through multiple stages of production, including fabrication, welding, coating, equipment installation, inspection, testing, and final shipment. When those movements depend primarily on forklifts, cranes, or manual transportation methods, production can quickly become difficult to predict.
A completed assembly waiting for transport consumes valuable floor space. Downstream operations can become congested when products arrive too early or too late. Skilled employees lose productive time coordinating material movement rather than focusing on the work that directly contributes to product quality and output. For manufacturers scaling data center production, material flow is becoming just as important as the fabrication process itself.
RedViking AGVs and AMRs offer a more flexible approach.
AGVs are ideal for moving large, heavy assemblies through defined workflows with precision and repeatability. AMRs add an additional layer of flexibility by dynamically navigating around people, equipment, and changing factory conditions without relying on fixed routes. Together, these solutions give manufacturers the ability to automate material movement across a variety of applications, from transporting large modular assemblies to delivering components and parts directly to workstations.
For data center manufacturers, this flexibility can be especially valuable. Product designs frequently evolve, production volumes can fluctuate dramatically, and facility layouts often change as programs grow. AGVs allow manufacturers to manage predictable, high-capacity transportation processes, while AMRs provide agile support for kitting, material replenishment, and movement between production cells.
The result is a production system designed around the product rather than around the limitations of the production line.
Engineered for Large, Complex Assemblies
Not all material handling applications are created equal. A cooling skid, for example, has very different handling requirements than a battery energy storage module or power distribution assembly. Payload weight, dimensions, center of gravity, and workstation access requirements vary significantly across data center infrastructure.
This is why RedViking, a Lincoln Electric Company, takes an application-driven approach to automation design. Lincoln Electric offers both configurable and fully custom AGV platforms that can be engineered around specific manufacturing processes. Rather than forcing operations into a standard solution, systems are designed to accommodate the facility layout, production goals, load characteristics, safety requirements, and integration needs of each customer.
For manufacturers producing large modular assemblies, this customization can be critical. Vehicles may require specialized support structures, lifting capabilities, or precise positioning functions to ensure operators have access to all sides of the product during fabrication and assembly.
Meanwhile, AMRs can automate the movement of smaller materials, components, tools, and subassemblies throughout the facility, helping ensure workstations remain supplied without requiring manual intervention. Together, AGVs and AMRs create a scalable automation strategy that supports both heavy manufacturing and day-to-day production logistics.
The objective is not simply transporting materials. It is creating a material handling solution that actively supports production.
Building a Smarter, More Connected Manufacturing Environment
Today's manufacturers are looking for greater visibility across their operations. Material movement should not exist as a separate process managed through phone calls, radio communication, or manual coordination.
Our AGVs and AMRs can integrate with manufacturing execution systems, factory controls, and production software platforms to support more intelligent decision-making. Transportation requests can be triggered automatically based on production status, station availability, inventory levels, or process completion. As facilities increase output and production complexity, integrating mobile automation with digital manufacturing strategies becomes increasingly important.
Scaling for the Future of Data Center Manufacturing
As demand for data centers continues to rise, manufacturers must find ways to increase output without sacrificing quality, safety, or flexibility. While investments in welding automation, assembly technology, and testing systems remain important, material flow is emerging as one of the most critical factors in overall production efficiency.
RedViking AGVs and AMRs help manufacturers address this challenge by transforming material handling into a strategic advantage. AGVs and AMRs provide the power and stability needed to move large, heavy assemblies through production, while adding the flexibility to automate material delivery, replenishment, and logistics throughout the factory. The opportunity extends far beyond replacing a forklift or reducing congestion. It's about creating a connected, flexible production environment capable of supporting the next generation of data center infrastructure.
Customer Assistance Policy
The business of Lincoln Electric is manufacturing and selling high quality welding equipment, automated welding systems, consumables, and cutting equipment. Our challenge is to meet the needs of our customers, who are experts in their fields, and to exceed their expectations. On occasion, purchasers may ask Lincoln Electric for information or technical information about their use of our products. Our employees respond to inquiries to the best of their ability based on information and specifications provided to them by the customers and the knowledge they may have concerning the application. Our employees, however, are not in a position to verify the information provided or to evaluate the engineering requirements for the particular weldment, or to provide engineering advice in relation to a specific situation or application. Accordingly, Lincoln Electric does not warrant or guarantee or assume any liability with respect to such information or communications. Moreover, the provision of such information or technical information does not create, expand, or alter any warranty on our products. Any express or implied warranty that might arise from the information or technical information, including any implied warranty of merchantability or any warranty of fitness for any customers’ particular purpose or any other equivalent or similar warranty is specifically disclaimed.
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