The names of the winners of the first International Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) Award 2014 were kept secret right up to the end. The results were revealed at the IFOY Award Night in during the CeMAT in Hannover, when the delighted winners were presented with their metal and glass trophies to the applause of the guests. Crown, Jungheinrich, Still and Toyota Material Handling Europe won IFOY Awards in five categories.

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This year, the jury seriously narrowed down the field of runners during the nomination phase. “Only the very best machines and solutions made it through to the final round, and the competition for the award was extremely fierce in some of the categories”, said Anita Würmser, Executive Chairperson of the IFOY Jury, during the award ceremony, adding that this also clearly underlined the outstanding quality of the shortlisted trucks and solutions.

The award in the category “Counter Balanced Trucks up to 3.5 tons” went to the Traigo 80 from Toyota Material Handling Europe. In the opinion of the jury, the high driving and lifting speeds of the electric truck combined with its strong acceleration boost the productivity of this 3.5 ton capacity machine by 20 percent, making it one of the most energy-efficient forklifts in its class.

An electric truck also came out on top in the category of “Counter Balanced Trucks from 3.5 tons”. In a head-to-head finish, the winner was the EFG S40 from Jungheinrich launched last summer. The 5-tonner convinced the jury with its energy efficiency and its parameter steering, a feature that adapts the steering of the truck based on the selected drive program.

Crown_QuickPickRemote-Collage

In the “Warehouse Trucks” category, the Crown GPC 3000 low-lift order picker with Crown QuickPick® remote control pulled away from the competition. The “magic glove” allows the operator to move the truck forward at the press of a button without having to be on-board, which means he has both hands free for picking tasks.

The winner in the new “Automated Guided Vehicle” category introduced in 2014 was the “iGoEasy” from Still. The combination of iPad and driverless EGV-S pedestrian high-lift stacker paves the way for an easy and cost-efficient transition to automated operations for standardised jobs, such as provision to and retrieval from the production line. The iGoEasy app guides the user through all the automation steps, permitting unsupervised installation and adaptation in a short space of time.

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In an extremely close finish, Toyota Material Handling Europe pocketed its second IFOY Award in the “Intralogistics Solutions” category, with the jury choosing the “I_Site” system solution in operation at international logistics provider Carreras Group. The Web portal enables Carreras to control its 300-truck fleet at 22 locations far more efficiently, with productivity increasing by 10 percent and operating costs down by roughly 60 percent.

IFOY Award – The 2014 winners

Category: Counter Balanced Truck up to 3.5 t

• Traigo 80, Toyota Material Handling Europe (electric)

Category: Counter Balanced Truck from 3.51 t

• EFG S40, Jungheinrich (electric)

Category: Warehouse Truck

• GPC 3000 low-lift order picker with Crown QuickPick® remote control, Crown

ToyotaTraigo80application

Category: Automated Guided Vehicle

• iGoEasy based on the driverless EGV-S pedestrian high-lift stacker, Still

Category: Intralogistics Solution

• Toyota Material Handling Europe: the Carreras Group, an international logistics provider, boosts the performance of its MHE fleet in Spain and Portugal using Toyota I_Site

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