Crown Equipment Earns Top Honors at Innovation Index Awards

Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world’s largest material handling companies, earned first place in the commercialization category at the second annual Innovation Index Awards presented last night by the Dayton Business Journal and Dayton Development Coalition. The award honors a company in the greater Dayton region using innovative approaches to bring products and services to market.

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Crown’s business philosophy utilizes vertically integrated processes to design, manufacture and distribute forward-thinking solutions that improve customers’ productivity and operating efficiency. A few examples of Crown’s recent commercialization successes include:

• New Forklift Engine Plant: In October 2014, continuing its longstanding vertically integrated manufacturing business model, Crown began production of the 2.4L LPG engine for the Crown C-5 Series industrial forklifts. The engines are manufactured in a renovated and revitalized 165,500-square-foot facility on a brownfield site in Troy, Ohio.

• QuickPick® Remote Technology: Crown’s award-winning QuickPick Remote is the world’s first semi-automated order picker and one of the first to utilize technology to reduce operator fatigue while improving productivity and safety. Crown field studies show that the technology helps reduce the number of steps order selectors take on and off the platform by up to 70 percent. Customers using QuickPick Remote have experienced an average of 10 to 25 percent increase in productivity.

• Innovator in Alternative Energy: Crown has been at the forefront of evaluating hydrogen fuel cell technology and qualifying and deploying fuel cell-powered forklifts. Crown was the first lift truck manufacturer to introduce a fuel cell qualification program that analyzes its electric forklifts for use with fuel cell packs and has qualified more than 30 of its forklift models for use with hydrogen fuel cells.

“Our company’s commitment to innovation is based squarely on a commitment we make to our customers,” said Jim Dicke III, president, Crown Equipment. “We listen to our customers, study their needs and changes in their businesses, and ultimately focus on creating material handling products and services that help them serve their customers. The result of those efforts is a consistent, company-wide philosophy of learning and innovation, along with a commitment to a quality level that our customers have come to expect from Crown. We’re appreciative of this recognition from the Dayton Business Journal and the Dayton Development Coalition that both help advance and promote the high quality of products commercialized in our region.”

The Innovation Index Awards are intended to recognize the top companies and leaders in the Miami Valley region that use innovative approaches and solutions to fuel the region’s economic engine. Additional Innovation Index Awards were given in categories focused on global fluency, service to society and workforce development. A panel of judges selected the winners from dozens of nominations from throughout the Miami Valley.