Here a forklift truck turns the corner as if out of nowhere; there another one drives too quickly towards an automatic roller shutter door - and somewhere else a pedestrian steps out of the break room into the busy factory hall at that very moment. Many employees in logistics are probably familiar with these and similar "moments of shock". Relying on a "just got away with it" is not an acceptable solution. After all, accidents don't just bring processes to a standstill. If vehicles, infrastructure or, in the worst case, people are damaged, this is often associated with enormous consequential costs. Yet it often takes less effort than expected to make the operational movement of goods safer in the long term.

Always on the spot when danger threatens

The Linde Safety Guard is a tried-and-tested example of such a solution. The innovative assistance system can be integrated into existing logistics scenarios in a time and cost-efficient manner. For this purpose, the trucks are equipped with truck units; these communicate with static units (which can be placed at transition areas between halls, for example) and with portable units for pedestrians. The Linde Safety Guard determines the positions of those involved with an accuracy of up to 10 centimetres and works absolutely reliably thanks to UWB technology; the signals are transmitted even through walls. If forklift trucks and pedestrians approach each other, for example, the forklift truck personnel can see how many people are approaching and from which direction - accompanied by visual and acoustic signals - on the truck unit. Pedestrians receive their warning signals via the Portable Unit. A major advantage is that warnings are only issued when there is an actual threat of danger - making nerve-wracking continuous warning tones superfluous. A pedestrian warning belt is also available as an extension to the Linde Safety Guard. As with the PortableUnit, this smart wearable alerts the wearer to approaching forklifts with clearly perceptible vibrations and sounds. At the same time, the visibility of the pedestrian is significantly improved by bright light signals.

Intelligent & customizable

But this is not the end of the performance spectrum of the holistically designed safety solution: Linde Safety Guard can also be used to define zones in which the system automatically defines the speed of the vehicles: a major safety benefit, especially in heavily frequented areas. The Linde Door Control module can also be ordered. It precisely adjusts the speed of forklift trucks to the opening mechanism of automatic doors. Here, too, the centimeter-precise positioning comes into its own: The door only opens when the forklift truck wants to drive through it. If it merely drives past, it remains closed. This prevents collision damage as well as unnecessary energy loss due to doors being opened too often. Find out more!