The finalists for this year's IFOY AWARD (International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year) have been announced. In the eighth round of the world-renowned award, the jury will send 17 products and solutions from 16 manufacturers from a field of 32 companies to compete for the best intralogistics products and solutions of the year. The competition has long since ceased to focus solely on forklifts. Starting with warehouse trucks and custom-made products for the most diverse material flow tasks, through robots, drones and software to reach stackers, famous names are in the final round. Bosch Rexroth, Combilift, Crown, Easy Mile, Geek+, Hyster, Jungheinrich, ProGlove, Raymond, Sany Europe, Still and Toyota Material Handling as well as the start-ups cellumation, doks. innovation, ForkOn and Wiferion want to win a trophy.
All finalists will go through the IFOY Audit at the international IFOY TEST DAYS from February 6 to 13 at the exhibition grounds of IFOY partner HANNOVER MESSE. In the IFOY Test, experts measure the key figures of the finalists in a standardized procedure. And in the IFOY Innovation Check scientists assess the innovative value of the nominated products and solutions. The Innovation Check is carried out by specialists from the Dortmund Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the Chair of Technical Logistics at the University of Dresden and the Chair of Materials Handling, Material Flow and Logistics (fml) at the Technical University of Munich.
At the end of the IFOY TEST DAYS, jurors from all over Europe, Australia, Brazil and Russia will travel to the metropolis in Lower Saxony to inspect the nominated products and test them themselves. For the first time, a jury member from the world's largest intralogistics market will also vote: Trade journalist Ying Xu will travel from Beijing to Hannover.
Among other things, the judges will assess the innovative value, technology, design, ergonomics and handling, safety, marketability and customer benefit as well as economic efficiency and sustainability. The jury consists of 27 renowned trade journalists from leading logistics media in 19 countries.
"A golden rule of the IFOY test series is that the finalists in their respective categories are not compared with each other, but with their competitors on the market. Only those nominees who outperform their direct competitors in terms of innovation have a chance to reach the highest podium position", emphasises Anita Wurmser, chairwoman of the IFOY Jury.
The trophies will be awarded in seven categories during the IFOY AWARD Night on April 20 at the HANNOVER MESSE 2020. More than 500 international guests are expected in the Logistics Forum in Hall 3, including the VIPs from the transport, logistics and intralogistics sectors. Until then, the result will remain a secret - both for the finalists and the public.
Nominated in the category "Counter Balanced Truck": Hyster, Still
In the counterbalance truck segment, the Hyster J60XNL with a lithium-ion battery is nominated. It was initially designed to take advantage of the shape of the energy storage system, offering benefits such as a low centre of gravity and more space in the cab.
The second nomination goes to Still's new flagship from the RX 60-25/35 series for loads up to 3.5 tonnes. During development, the manufacturer paid attention to the use of energy-efficient technologies as well as high performance.
Nominated in the category "Special Vehicle": Combilift, Sany Europe The Combi-CBE4 from the Irish manufacturer Combilift is nominated for the category special vehicles. The electric forklift truck of four tons with all-wheel drive combines multidirectionality and a compact design.
Sany Europe is also in the final round. The company enters the race with the SRSC45H9A Hybrid Reach Stacker. Users can save costs with this reach stacker for containers. This is due to the energy recuperation, an efficient transmission and a weight reduction compared to the previous model.
Nominated in the "Warehouse Truck highlifter" category: Crown, Jungheinrich
The American manufacturer Crown has reached the finals with the ESR 1000. Compared to the previous model, the Xpress Lower technology doubles the lowering speed and the new Gena operating system offers performance-enhancing assistance systems and intuitive operation.
Jungheinrich wins the second nomination in this category with the ERC 216zi. As the first Jungheinrich battery-powered highlifter truck with a fully integrated lithium-ion battery, the new, compact truck design ensures high performance and maximum operating convenience according to the manufacturer.
Nominated in the "Warehouse Truck lowlifter" category: Combilift, Raymond, Toyota Material Handling
The jury nominated three products in the category "Warehouse Truck lowlifter". With the CombiCS, Combilift enters the finals. The pedestrian operated truck has been developed for pallet transport in very confined spaces. Thanks to a special tiller arm and a compact design, the vehicle, which is only 1.05 metres long, scores points for safe operation and good visibility for the operator.
The American Raymond Corporation enters the race with the Courier 3030. The automated forklift truck can take over transports between production and warehouse. The developers integrated a vision technology that scans the environment 360 degrees around the industrial truck and brings it to a standstill if a person or object blocks the way.
The third nomination in this category wins the new Toyota BT Levio LWI160 low-lift pallet truck from Toyota Material Handling. The pedestrian operated truck marks the beginning of a new era in design and construction. Developed around the modular Toyota battery system with Lithium-Ion technology, the LWI160 is particularly light, space-saving and energy efficient. Battery system and device merge into one unit, eliminating the need for a conventional battery room.
Nominated in the category "AGV/Robot": EasyMile, Geek+
In the AGV/Robot category the French manufacturer EasyMile gets a nomination. Its TractEasy is a highly automated tugger for use both indoors and outdoors. It enables the automation of logistics flows and is designed for a load of up to 25 tons. A special feature: The vehicle is specially designed to cope with various environmental and traffic conditions in outdoor areas.
The Chinese manufacturer Geek+ is in the competition, too. The C200 Robot Shuttle System is nominated. It identifies and picks standard size totes and transports them for picking and packing. The system offers customers added value through self-learning, intelligent route planning, precise navigation and automatic loading.
Nominated in the category "Intralogistics Software": Bosch Rexroth, ProGlove
One large and one small company and their solutions are nominated in the software category. The jury gave the green light for the Laser Localization Software from Bosch Rexroth. It offers a key technology for autonomous vehicles in intralogistics and production environments, which uses a laser to automatically map the environment and determine the position and orientation of the vehicle. According to the manufacturer, the software enables the fastest and easiest commissioning: mapping with just one click, immediate localization, automatic map update.
The Munich-based manufacturer ProGlove, which also participated in the competition last year, is entering the race with The ProGlove Cloud. The cloud helps companies map a digital twin of their processes to better manage devices, identify logistics challenges, ensure seamless warehouse processes and enable intelligent workflows. With quick plug-and-play software integration, this stand-alone solution can be up and running quickly and is not dependent on ERP or WMS data.
Nominated in the category "Start-up of the Year": cellumation, doks. innovation, ForkOn, Wiferion
The jury nominates four start-ups for the finals in 2020. cellumation is competing with the celluveyor. This is a modular material flow system consisting of hexagonal cells that can be combined to create any desired layout. On the surface, packages can be moved and positioned flexibly thanks to omnidirectional wheels. Thus even complex material flow tasks can be realized.
doks. innovation is nominated with inventAIRy X. The system is a combination of a drone, 1D and 2D sensors, a 12-megapixel camera and the doks. software for data acquisition and processing using machine learning algorithms, which, together with an automated guided vehicle, autonomously detects stock levels in warehouses. Users save time and resources in what is normally a highly manual process and can assign employees to value-adding activities.
Also in the race in this category is ForkOn fleet management software from the start-up of the same name. It is the first manufacturer-independent fleet management software for forklift trucks and other industrial trucks. The cloud-based, user-friendly software-as-a-service platform reduces annual costs by 20 percent by focusing on total cost of ownership according to the manufacturer. Other features such as indoor tracking and load management are also integrated.
Wiferion is also pleased about a nomination. Among other things, the company develops and sells wireless energy systems for electrically powered industrial trucks. The scalable, modular energy systems are based on the patented, inductive charging system etaLINK 3000. The charging solution does not require plug and sliding contacts and enables efficient, fast intermediate charging of the batteries.
