The "Best in Intralogistics" seal was introduced three years ago to visibly document the high degree of innovation of the devices and solutions nominated for an IFOY Award that successfully complete the IFOY test. "Only innovations with this certificate have successfully passed the three-part IFOY audit and thus undergone the independent intralogistics test," emphasizes Anita Würmser, Managing Chairwoman of the jury.

The IFOY Audit 2021, which was held for the first time this year on the premises of the new IFOY partner Messe Dortmund, lasts a total of five days. It comprises various series of tests, the results of which are used by the 26 jury members - renowned logistics journalists from all over the world - to help them decide on the winners. At the IFOY Award, the nominees in a category are never compared with each other, but always with comparable devices currently on the market. This ensures that the performance values and the innovation gap can be assessed objectively.

The first part of the IFOY Audit is the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, which is carried out by the Dortmund 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 Logistics at the Technical University of Munich. The experts assess the finalists in terms of market relevance, customer benefit, type of implementation and degree of innovation. In addition, the scientists verify the innovations specified by the manufacturers in the test hall and evaluate in a technology comparison whether they are innovative further developments, new compositions or genuine innovations.

The second part of the IFOY audit is the practice-oriented IFOY test by Dutch specialist journalist Theo Egberts. He measures the facts and compares them with the relevant competitor devices. The appliances undergo individually tailored driving or functional tests, including the IFOY test protocol comprising around 80 criteria, which determines the economy and energy efficiency, sustainability, safety and ergonomics of the appliances, among other things. The test hall creates identical environmental conditions for all candidates in order to prevent the test results from being distorted by external influences such as lighting, weather conditions or aisle widths.

The third part of the audit is the assessment of the finalists by the jurors and their approved consultants. The jury members form an opinion based on the IFOY Innovation Check, the IFOY test results and their own test experience and then vote.

Who will win the 2021 race will remain a well-kept secret for a few more weeks - even for the manufacturers. It will only be revealed during the festive IFOY Award ceremony, the time and place of which are yet to be announced.