Award winners: Reach truck and assistance system

It’s solely the readers who decide which product will make it to the winner’s podium in the “materialfluss PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR” competition: What they like will be awarded a prize. Launched in 2020, the trade magazine for intralogistics and logistics offered this award for a second time and called upon its readers to cast their votes between mid-December 2020 and mid-February 2021 in an online poll. The editors nominated 79 products in eight categories, and the three best of each category were awarded prizes. Around 20,000 votes were received.

First place in the Industrial Trucks category of the readers’ poll “materialfluss PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR 2021” took the Linde R-MATIC reach truck from Linde Material Handling.

First place in the Industrial Trucks category of the readers’ poll “materialfluss PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR 2021” took the Linde R-MATIC reach truck from Linde Material Handling.

In the Industrial Trucks category, the Linde R-MATIC automated reach truck was one of the finalists and in the end left all other innovations behind. Its special features: The front safety sensor integrated into the chassis enables maneuvering in aisles a mere 2.95 meters wide. Furthermore, it is the only automated reach truck in the industry to offer a lifting height of eleven meters. And yet another unique feature is its auto-calibrating 3D camera based on a new software generation, which allows even more precise determination of the load position, thus enabling faster object detection. This saves 15 to 20 seconds per each pick or drop. “The reach truck is considered to be top-of-the-line warehouse equipment. With the second generation of our automated Linde R-MATIC, we are offering our customers an even more powerful vehicle that is highly reliable and flexible at the same time,” says Alexandra Mertel, Product Manager Automation & Intralogistics Solutions at Linde Material Handling. “We are very pleased that this achievement has been recognized by the most expert jury imaginable, namely the readers from the ranks of user companies.”

The Linde Safety Guard’s “Door Control” module was also named a “materialfluss PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR 2021”. The intelligent access authorization system provides valuable services in preventing door collision damage and regulates entry into defined areas.

The Linde Safety Guard’s “Door Control” module was also named a “materialfluss PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR 2021”. The intelligent access authorization system provides valuable services in preventing door collision damage and regulates entry into defined areas.

In the Identification Technology category, the new “Door Control” module of the Linde Safety Guard was the winner with the customers. On the one hand, this intelligent access authorization system provides valuable services in preventing door collision damage, and on the other it regulates entry into defined areas: For example, diesel forklifts are not allowed to drive into sensitive food production areas, and indoor forklifts are prevented from driving out of the hall. The hall door control function is synchronized with the speed of approaching forklifts, and the door opens and closes at exactly the right time. If there is no authorization, the travel speed is reduced, and a visual warning issued. “Our customers found this application to be very convincing. This encouraged us to participate in the competition,” says Ron Winkler, Sales Manager EMEA, Linde Safety Guard. "The award we received is a great endorsement for our agile sales and development team.”