The competition is no longer just about forklifts: the spectrum of nominees ranges from warehouse trucks and custom-made products to robots, drones, software and container stackers. Bosch Rexroth, Combilift, Crown, Easy Mile, Geek+, Hyster, Jungheinrich, ProGlove, Raymond, Sany Europe, Still and Toyota Material Handling as well as the start-ups cellumation, doks. innovation, ForkOn and Wiferion are all aiming to win a trophy.

All finalists will undergo the IFOY Audit at the IFOY Test Days from February 6 to 13 at the exhibition grounds of IFOY partner Hannover Messe. In the IFOY Test, experts measure the key figures of the finalists in a standardized procedure.

In the IFOY Innovation Check, scientists assess the innovative value of the nominated products and solutions. The Innovation Check is carried out by specialists from the Dortmund-based Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the Chair of Technical Logistics at the University of Dresden and the Chair of Materials Handling, Material Flow and Logistics (fml) at the Technical University of Munich.

At the end of the IFOY Test Days, jurors from all over Europe, Australia, Brazil and Russia will travel to Hanover to inspect the nominated devices and test them themselves. For the first time, a juror from the world's largest intralogistics market will also be voting: trade journalist Ying Xu will be traveling to Hanover from Beijing. Among other things, the judges will assess innovation value, technology, design, ergonomics and handling, safety, marketability and customer benefits as well as cost-effectiveness and sustainability. The jury consists of 27 renowned trade journalists from 19 countries.

"A golden rule of the IFOY test series is that the finalists are not compared with each other in their respective category, but with their competitors on the market. Only the nominee that outperforms its direct competitors in terms of innovation has a chance of taking the top spot on the podium," emphasizes Anita Würmser, Chairwoman of the IFOY jury. The trophies will be awarded in seven categories during the IFOY Award Night on April 20 at the Hannover Messe2020.

Counter Balanced Truck" category: Hyster, Still
In the counterbalanced truck segment, the Hyster Hybrid Reach Stacker SRSC45H9 with lithium-ion battery makes it to the final. It was designed from the outset to make use of the shape of the energy storage system, thus offering advantages such as a low center of gravity and more space in the cab. The second nomination goes to Still's new flagship from the RX 60-25/35 series for loads up to 3.5 tons. During development, the manufacturer paid attention to both the use of energy-efficient technologies and high performance.

Special Vehicle" category: Combilift, Sany Europe
The Combi-CBE4 from Irish manufacturer Combilift has been nominated in the special vehicle category. The four-tonne electric forklift truck with all-wheel drive combines multidirectionality and a compact design. Sany Europe is also in the final. The Group is entering the race with the SRSC45H9A Hybrid Reach Stacker.

Warehouse truck highlifter" category: Crown, Jungheinrich
Crown enters the final with the ESR 1000 reach truck. Compared to the previous model, the Xpress Lower technology doubles the lowering speed and the new Gena operating system offers performance-enhancing assistance systems and intuitive operation. Jungheinrich wins the second nomination in the category with the ERC 216zi. As the first Jungheinrich electric pallet truck with a fully integrated lithium-ion battery, the new, compact truck design ensures high performance and maximum ease of use, according to the manufacturer.

Warehouse Truck lowlifter" category: Combilift, Raymond, Toyota Material Handling
Combilift enters the final with the CombiCS. The pedestrian-controlled truck has been developed for transporting pallets in the tightest of spaces. Thanks to a special drawbar and a compact design, the vehicle, which is only 1.05 meters long, scores with safe operation and good visibility for the operator. The American Raymond Corporation is entering the race with the Courier 3030. The automated forklift truck can handle transportation between production and the warehouse. The developers integrated technology that monitors the environment 360 degrees around the device and brings it to a standstill if necessary if a person or object blocks the path. The third nomination in this category goes to the new Toyota BT Levio LWI160 low lift pallet truck from Toyota Material Handling. The truck heralds a new era in terms of design and construction: developed around the modular Toyota battery system with lithium-ion technology, the LWI160 is particularly light, space-saving and energy-efficient.

Nominated in the "AGV/Robot" category: EasyMile, Geek+
EasyMile from France is nominated in the AGV/Robot category. Its TractEasy is a highly automated tugger train for use both indoors and outdoors. It enables the automation of logistics flows and is designed for a towing capacity of up to 25 tons. The vehicle is specially designed to cope with different environmental and traffic conditions in outdoor areas. Chinese manufacturer Geek+ is also in the running for the IFOY trophy. The C200 robot shuttle system is nominated. It identifies and picks standard-sized containers and transports them for picking and packing. The system offers customers added value through self-learning, intelligent route planning, precise navigation and automatic loading.

Intralogistics Software" category: Bosch Rexroth, ProGlove
In the software category, one large and one small company have been nominated with their solutions. The jury gave the green light to the Laser Localization Software from Bosch Rexroth. It offers a key technology for autonomous vehicles in intralogistics and production environments that uses a laser to automatically map the environment and determine the position and orientation of the vehicle. Munich-based manufacturer ProGlove, which also took part in last year's competition, is entering the race with The ProGlove Cloud. The cloud helps companies to map a digital twin of their processes in order to better manage devices, identify logistics challenges, ensure seamless warehouse processes and enable intelligent workflows. With fast plug-and-play software integration, this stand-alone solution can be up and running quickly and is not dependent on ERP or WMS data.

Four start-ups made it to the final in 2020: cellumation is competing with the celluveyor. This is a modular material flow system consisting of hexagonal cells that can be assembled into any layout. Packages can be flexibly moved and positioned on the surface thanks to omnidirectional wheels.

doks. innovation is nominated with inventAIRy X. The system is a combination of a drone, 1D and 2D sensors, a 12-megapixel camera and the doks. software for data acquisition and processing using machine learning algorithms, which autonomously records stock levels in pallet racking warehouses in conjunction with a driverless transport vehicle. Users save time and resources and can deploy employees for value-adding activities.

Also in the running in this category is the ForkOn fleet management software from the start-up of the same name. According to the developers, it is the first manufacturer-independent fleet management software for forklift trucks and other industrial trucks. According to the provider, the cloud-based, user-friendly software-as-a-service platform reduces annual costs by 20 percent by focusing on total cost of ownership.

Among other things, Wiferion develops and sells wireless energy systems for electrically powered industrial trucks. The scalable, modular energy systems are based on the patented, inductive charging system etaLINK 3000. The charging solution does not require any plug or sliding contacts and enables efficient, fast intermediate charging of the batteries.