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The Winners of the IFOY AWARD 2018

• Jungheinrich, Liebherr, Still, Wegard and Witron win IFOY Awards in five categories.

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• Glamorous IFOY Award Night at the CeMAT in Hanover.

The IFOY Award is always worth the surprise and once again lived up to its reputation this year. After six months of trial and selection, the decision was tighter than ever before. As per usual, the cheering was overwhelming when the laudatory speakers revealed the traditionally well-kept secret of the winners at the CeMAT opening ceremony. "It was the toughest and most narrow decision ever made at the IFOY Award. The IFOY audit has shown that all finalists are far ahead of their competitors in terms of quality, innovation and practicability, not only on paper yet also in practice," emphasized Anita Würmser, Chairwoman of the IFOY jury at the celebration.

Witron Logistik + Informatik GmbH, Parkstein, Germany, triumphed in the premium class of "Integrated Warehouse Solutions" for its Migros Distribution Center Suhr AG in Switzerland. Witron is the first system integrator worldwide to have succeeded in developing an integrated omnichannel solution and merging the volatile small volume order picking of migrolino AG with the Migros branch business.

The new RX 20 from Hamburg-based Still GmbH was voted best truck of the year. The powerful and maneauvrable 1.6- ton all-rounder for indoor and outdoor use impressed with its innovative overall package and outstanding handling performance. It is also the only truck type that can drive with either circuit A or B batteries and use both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries. This year, two vehicles can call themselves "Warehouse Truck of the Year". For the first time in IFOY history, two finalists crossed the finish line: The ECE 225 from Jungheinrich AG and the Wegard Trail from the Hamburg startup Wegard GmbH. The further developed ECE 225 with easyPILOT Follow is a semi-automatic solution by which the order picker automatically follows his operator. A control unit in the pocket or on the belt automatically connects the remote control to the 2.5-ton order picker via radio. The Wegard Trail is the modular tugger train with autonomous and electronically steered axles. In the IFOY Test it was impressive due to its high directional stability, and it even allows driving maneuvers such as lateral parking or reversing. In addition, the Wegard Trail can be combined from different trailer types and does not require a special tractor.

Jungheinrich won a second IFOY Award in the "Special of the Year" category with the cross-technology SLH300 battery charger for industrial trucks. The plug & play solution for charging conventional lead-acid and more efficient lithium-ion batteries offers advantages above all for mixed fleets or the switch from lead-acid to lithium-ion technology. In the crane category, the MK 140 tower crane from Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH was honoured with an IFOY Award. The 5-axle model is only 15.97 meters long and the first crane to combine the trolley mode for fast and fully electric handling and the luffing mode for special applications using the VarioJib. It can carry loads of up to 1,900 kilograms, lift heights of up to 94 metres and a projection of up to 65 metres, which could previously only be achieved with larger or rig-intensive equipment.

The IFOY Award has established itself as an indicator of economic efficiency and innovation. Due to its specialised expertise it is regarded as the most important innovation award in intralogistics. The decision is based on the IFOY audit. The devices and solutions are subjected to individually tailored driving or function tests, including the IFOY test protocol comprising around 80 criteria and the scientific IFOY Innovation Check. In addition, jurors and their advisory teams assess the finalists personally before voting. Above all, it is crucial that the nominees are compared not with each other, yet with their competing devices on the market.

The IFOY Award, which is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, is presented by the Association for Materials Handling and Intralogistics within the VDMA. IFOY partners are CeMAT, the world's leading trade fair for intralogistics, Hanover, and Messe München with its trade fairs transport logistic, bauma and IFAT. Pallet partner of the IFOY Award is Chep, world market leader in the pooling of pallets and containers. The technology partner is battery charging specialist Fronius.

Source: IFOY Award