Think CeMAT, think Toyota. That is the theme promoted by Toyota Material Handling for this year’s event, reflecting a wide range of ideas and concepts that the company has developed for forklift truck operators and logistics managers. Many of the concepts are available now, but some ideas also take a look at the future.
New Energy Now
One of the key areas within Toyota’s CeMAT presentations is a focus on energy systems.
Two of the latest truck ranges launched by the company will be on display – the BT Staxio Pseries stackers and the Toyota Traigo 48 volt counterbalance forklift trucks – both of which are available with lithium-ion battery systems. This means that Toyota is now able to offer lithium-ion across its entire range of mainstream electric models, including reach trucks and order pickers.
Other new energy systems being presented include fuel cell technology – already in use with some of Toyota’s European customers, and the latest IC-engines. The latter are notable due to their high fuel efficiency that is less affected by heavy driving styles – a factor that can ordinarily increase fuel consumption by up to 35%.
Smart Dynamics
At CeMAT 2014 Toyota presented its Smart Truck concept, based on the company’s award-winning I_Site truck management system, where trucks are connected on-line via standard telecommunication networks, transmitting data relating to truck and driver performance. At CeMAT 2016 Toyota is advancing this concept further with a special feature called the Smart Dynamics zone. Occupying a futuristic dome structure on the booth, the zone will present a wide range of benefits that logistics managers can derive from the use of smart trucks. These include advances in safety, operator performance, service improvements and energy management. Using data to improve truck utilisation based on flexible rental arrangements is another key development, as well as the concept of smart benchmarking, to assess and compare truck performance across different sites.
Simple Automation
Toyota has a proven track record and experience in designing and providing automated solutions, and several automated concepts will be demonstrated at CeMAT this year. However the focus this time is on simplicity. Many of Toyota’s customers are taking advantage of automation in selected areas of their operations, whilst retaining human control of other parts.
That way system development and control can be based on the standard modules that are available from Toyota. This reduces time and cost, and resolves concerns relating to perceived complexity and risk that many truck users have had in the past.
Lean production in action Toyota has for many years been associated with business management concepts, among which the well-known Toyota Production System – lean manufacturing processes that have been adopted by companies worldwide. At CeMAT 2016 Toyota will be presenting an extract from their Toyota Tonero forklift production line, showing the way that TPS is applied and the associated quality benefits.
Future Technology Tour A particularly interesting feature at this year’s event is a future technology tour that shows a number of new approaches to material handling that Toyota is considering for the future.
Visitors are invited to offer feedback on the tour to help with design development. The tour includes a number of progressive concepts that include remote operation and active load carriers.
Matthias Fischer, President and CEO of Toyota Material Handling said, “We are occupying the same pavilion position that we had in 2014, and it is not possible for me to identify a single highlight for this year’s show. The scope of what we offer today is very wide, and we have to address many different customer expectations. Perhaps the highlight is the diversity of thinking that we have on offer.”
“New thinking is reflected in our T-motion presentation, where we look at improved ways of moving things without forks. Automation is a key story, with a focus on simplicity – and we also have a look at the future with a tour through a number of new truck concepts. At the last CeMAT we presented our smart truck concept, and this year we have a major feature called Smart Dynamics, showing the many things you can improve based on this technology.”
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