IFOY AWARD 2016: Crown wins “Warehouse Truck lowlifter” category

• Jury of international trade journalists selects Crown´s RT 4020 stand-up rider pallet truck as the winner in the "Warehouse Truck lowlifter" category.

• Colourful IFOY Award ceremony for the "Intralogistics Oscar" at the CeMAT in Hannover.

• Harald Scherleitner, Head of Global Perfect Charging at Fronius International presents the prestigious IFOY trophy.

The IFOY Award in the category "Warehouse Truck lowlifter" goes to the newly developed RT 4020 stand-up rider pallet truck from Crown.

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The name of the winner was a well-kept secret up to the last moment. Last Tuesday evening its identity was revealed at the CeMAT opening in Hannover, when Harald Scherleitner, Head of Global Perfect Charging at Fronius International, presented the metal and glass trophy to the delighted winners.

The deciding factor for the jury was the extremely high productivity in tight spaces. In the words of the jury, "the powerful threephase motor, the compact design, and the intuitive and highly responsive control elements make the RT the perfect machine for narrow and busy areas". The IFOY Innovation Check identified a compact design for the level of performance, important ergonomic features, and also and in particular a range of safety features that were implemented in an excellent fashion.

The Crown RT 4020 forklift truck with driver platform is designed for demanding applications in modern logistics and can lift up to two tons. The top speed of 12.5 km/h and a chassis width of just 780 mm makes manoeuvring in tight spaces easy, as when loading and unloading delivery trucks, for example, or storing pallets in narrow channels. Despite its compact design, the truck still offers adequate space for the driver. In the IFOY Test, the RT 4020 was easy to handle and achieved better performance than average forklifts with fold-down platform.

As is typical for Crown, safety and ergonomics played a central role in the development process. In terms of ergonomics, the focus is also on the spring-mounted stand-up platform, the suspended support wheel and the ergonomically designed backrest. One of the key safety features is the "Entrybar Safety Switch", which ensures that the driver's feet are always inside the vehicle contours. If the switch is in the depressed position when the vehicle is started, the forklift will not even move. If the switch is accidentally pressed during travel, the truck slowly and safely rolls to a standstill. The transverse position means visibility is good in both directions.

In contrast to its predecessor, the RT 4020 was developed in-house by Crown. This has the advantage that it ensures the use of various tried-and-tested components introduced by Crown in recent years. These include such things as the powerful, maintenance-free threephase motor, the butterfly switches, the electronic steering or the cushioned platform. The truck is optionally available in right or left-side versions and also Li-Ion ready. 

Since 2013, the IFOY Award has become established as a benchmark for cost efficiency and innovation. Due to the specialised expertise it represents, it is seen as the most important innovation award in intralogistics.

The winners are selected once a year by an independent jury of leading international trade journalists. A neutral test and a scientific “Innovation Check” form the basis for assessment by the jury. Both test series compare the finalists with their respective competitors. The sponsor of the IFOY Award, presented under the patronage of the German Ministry of Economics and Energy, is the VDMA Materials Handling and Logistics Systems Sector Association. Official IFOY partner is CeMAT, the leading international trade fair for intralogistics in Hannover. IFOY pallet partner is Chep, the global market leader in pallet pooling. IFOY technology partner is the battery charging specialist Fronius.