Last month, the International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year or IFOY Award recognized innovative and top-performing systems. An independent jury of trade journalists selected the winners of the annual award, as well as the startup of the year.
Competitors participated in a three-stage audit, which consisted of the IFOY test protocol with about 80 criteria, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, and the jury test. The IFOY said the judges compared the nominees not with one another, but with their competitors in the market.
The winners received their awards at a ceremony in Baden, Germany, near Vienna.
Brightpick named Startup of the Year
IFOY recognized Brightpick as Startup of the Year for its Autopicker mobile manipulator. The Bratislava, Slovakia-based company has used 3D vision and artificial intelligence from parent Photoneo s.r.o. to develop the autonomous picking system.
The patented Autopicker picks a wide range of items weighing up to 2.5 kg (5.5 lb.) from standard racks to two bins without requiring rails or human intervention, noted IFOY.
“The fact that picking takes place while a robot is moving from one location to another without the robot having to return to a ‘base station’ is new and revolutionary,” it said. “In existing warehouses with standard racking, the system can be used economically from 5,000 picks per day with an inventory of 1,000 to 30,000 SKUs.”
“Although an exact measurement during the live assessment at test days was not possible, a higher throughput rate and thus a considerable time saving could be confirmed,” said IFOY. “This leads to a reduction in the number of robots required, which has a positive effect on the return on investment and noticeably reduces picking costs.”
Brightpick’s Autopicker also won the Application of the Year award as part of the 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards. Brightpick co-founder and CEO Jan Zizka spoke at the Robotics Summit & Expo and on The Robot Report Podcast. They are produced by WTWH Media, the parent of Automated Warehouse.
More warehouse automation earns 2024 recognition
Jungheinrich‘s EJCC 112i won IFOY’s Warehouse Truck Highlifter of the Year award. The system has a compact design suitable for smaller warehouses with narrow aisles.
The EJC 112i also includes an integrated lithium-ion battery offering greater power density, according to Jungheinrich. The lift truck has a residual load capacity of 650 kg (1,433 lb.).
SAFELOG won Integrated Customer Solution of the Year for its assistance in the production of Mercedes-Benz E- and GLC-Class vehicles. Factory 46 in Sindelfingen, Germany, uses about 350 automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for tasks including picking baskets of supplies and transporting them to assembly lines.
SAFELOG automated materials transport over 15 km within Mercedes’ facility. In addition, the company supplies the automaker with 3,500 AGVs in Europe and the U.S.
The SSI Piece Picking module from SSI Schäfer won Stationary Robot of the Year. Instead of an articulated robot arm, the system uses a small gantry robot to extend the range of the gripper. It also includes consolidated interfaces, error-handling technology, and 2D and 3D cameras.
In comparison with 350 picks per hour for manual operations, SSI Schaefer claimed that its Piece Picking module can pick up to 1,200 picks per hour and provide a return on invesment (ROI) in less than one year.
The EXV iGo automated pallet truck from STILL won the Mobile Robot of the Year. IFOY described it as “the perfect door opener to the world of automated warehouse processes.”
The truck, which can carry loads weighing up to 1,600 kg (3,527.3 lb.) and lift them up to 3.8 m (12.4 ft.), can reach speeds up to 7.2 kph (4.4 mph). It is designed for easy training, usage, and maintenance, said STILL.
RAVAS EUROPE won IFOY’s “Special of the Year” award for its intelligent fork carriage (IFC) scale with Weighing-in-Motion technology.
Test results released
Last week, IFOY released the results of its practical test and scientific innovation check of systems from 15 manufacturers. The following 16 products were tested in April in Dortmund, Germany:
- AGILOX: Autonomous mobile robot (AMR) fleet at BMW
- Crown: ESR 1200
- GLOBE Fuel Cell Systems: GLOBE XLP80
- HWArobotics: SLS600 shuttle robot system
- Innok Robotics: INDUROS
- Jungheinrich: SOTO
- Jungheinrich: EJC 112i
- MEYSENS: Toposens ECHO ONE
- RAVAS: iCP Carriage Plate Scale with Weighing in Motion Technology
- SAFELOG: Mobile Transportroboter with Mercedes
- SSI SCHÄFER: SSI Piece Picking
- STILL: EXV iGo
- BOX ID Systems: BOX ID ProcessGuard
- Brightpick: Brightpick Autopicker
- Mocci: mocci Smart Pedal Vehicle
- CYBRID: CYBRID Exoskeleton
The Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the Chair of Technical Logistics at the University of Dresden, the Chair of Materials Handling Material Flow Logistics at the Technical University of Munich and the
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA) compared the technologies with market standards.
The scientific team assessed the finalists in terms of degree of innovation, customer benefit, market relevance and functionality. It evaluated the systems in the test hall through visual inspections and a functional test.
About the IFOY Awards
The IFOY organization is based in Ismaning, Germany, near Munich. Its stated goal is to promote competitiveness and the profile of the intralogistics sector in the public arena.
The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection sponsors the IFOY Award. The Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and the Robotics + Automation Association within VDMA also support the award. VDMA is the German Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers Association.
Messe Dortmund and Cascade, a leading forklift attachment manufacturer, are IFOY partners. CHEP, a market leader in pallet pooling, is the IFOY pallet partner, and LTG is its logistics partner. HERMES.Wirtschafts.Forum is the IFOY event partner.