UniCarriers wins cold chain award

UniCarriers has won the Materials Handling Equipment Provider of the Year Award at the recent TCS&D Awards 2022.

Held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, the TCS&D Awards recognises individuals and companies achievements within the Cold Chain sector, where over 400 industry colleagues were in attendance.

“We are delighted to win the TCS&D MHE Provider of the Year Award,” says UniCarriers UK National Sales Manager, Mark Wakeman. “At UniCarriers we are committed to delivering high-quality, state-of-the-art equipment, whilst providing a range of modifications to optimise truck performance in frozen & chilled stores, meaning our customers can focus on the job, instead of concerns about equipment and staff’.

As the UK’s active and growing forklift provider for frozen and chilled operations, UniCarriers offers a full range of forklift trucks optimised for use in temperature-controlled areas. The state-of-the-art heated cold store cabins, high-capacity batteries, quality steel, and leading ergonomic design, combine for optimum performance. Of course, the truck is not the only TCS&D star – UniCarriers solutions and levels of service not only meets, but also exceeds customer expectations.

Frozen & chilled stores are an essential part of the modern logistics chain, but they are also expensive to run  and challenging to operate. UniCarriers works closely with its customers to find the right equipment to improve the efficiency of their operations and remains alongside them every step of the way. It’s not just business, it’s about building relationships. This TCS&D Award is a fantastic acknowledgement of the work carried out every day by UniCarriers expert sales, and service teams.

UniCarriers’ focus will always be on providing the best frozen and chilled solution for each and every customer,” says Wakeman. “Whichever contract or short-term hire option our customers choose, they find that what really sets UniCarriers apart is our dedication to providing excellent bespoke equipment, solutions, and service throughout the relationship.”

 

STILL celebrates two IFOY nominations

Hamburg-based intralogistics expert STILL has been nominated for the final round of the IFOY Award 2022 with two entries.

Once the members of the IFOY jury choose the winners of this year’s IFOY Award in Dortmund between 18th and 23rd March, STILL will be represented with two entries in the categories “Special of the Year” and “Integrated Warehouse Solution” in the competition for the coveted intralogistics trophies.

Both of the entries from STILL GmbH passed the IFOY pre-selection with flying colours and were nominated for the final round in Dortmund in March. One of these is the innovative STILL ‘Descent Speed Regulation’ (DSR) assistance system, which makes journeys with the new LXT 120-350 and LXW 20-30 series of platform trucks and tractors from the Hamburg-based intralogistics provider even safer.

When driving downhill with a load, DSR adjusts the speed of the vehicles – either manually or automatically, depending on the configuration level – to a value that protects it from dangerous situations. This unique system supports the driver for safe travel on ramps and at the same time increases handling performance.

The assistance system is available in the DSR Basic, DSR Eco or DSR Premium versions. While the driver still has to activate the system manually in the Basic version so that it reduces the speed to a previously set maximum value, the system in the Eco version activates automatically when driving down a slope and brakes the vehicle to a predefined value. With DSR Premium, the assistance system automatically regulates the vehicle speed when driving downhill depending on the slope and the load being towed.

The “Hase Project”

The expansion of the automated warehouse at Hase Safety Group AG (pictured), a producer of work gloves based in the Frisian town of Jever, is another flagship project with which STILL has entered the race for the coveted prizes. During this warehouse expansion, the STILL industrial trucks were replaced by automated, more powerful equipment with telescopic forks and the existing racking system was expanded to 10,000 pallet spaces.

All Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) now navigate safely and autonomously through the warehouse. The resulting optimisation of the driving course is made possible by rotating laser scanners on the vehicles, which permanently measure the distances to the reflectors installed in the warehouse. In addition, three MX-X very narrow aisle trucks and six EXV-SF high lift stackers of the latest generation were fitted with the iGo Systems automation kit from STILL.

Winners kept secret until award ceremony

“This year we are once again taking part in the international IFOY Award with two promising and highly competitive entries,” explains Torsten Wiecker, Vice President Brand Management STILL EMEA at STILL, and adds: “Both the innovative new development of the safety-enhancing assistance system and the successful expansion and optimisation of the Hase Safety Group’s automatic warehouse have the potential to rank high in the favour and esteem of the international jury of experts.”

However, the nominees will have to wait a while longer before hearing “And the winner is ….” again. The winners of the contest will remain a secret until the final IFOY Award Night on 30th June in the BMW World in Munich.

About IFOY

The IFOY Award (International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year Award) is presented annually as a recognition of outstanding performance in intralogistics. It is supported by the IFOY organisation and an international jury of renowned trade journalists representing the leading logistics media in the respective markets. The UK is represented on the jury exclusively by Logistics Business’ news editor Peter MacLeod, a founding member of the IFOY jury when the awards were established a decade ago.

The IFOY organisation says it evaluates according to transparent criteria, independently and on the basis of professional expertise. The award is intended to document the performance and innovative strength of the intralogistics industry and aims to contribute to the competitiveness and public image of the entire industry. The IFOY Award is sponsored by the Association for Materials Handling and Intralogistics within the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) and is under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

Linde takes pride in 2021 awards

In reflecting on its seven awards received in 2021 and more than 80 accolades picked up over the last three decades, intralogistics specialist Linde Material Handling (MH) recognises this achievement as the result of its ongoing innovative strength and wealth of ideas produced for the benefit of its customers.

All the prizes that have been awarded to the company since the mid-1980s can now be seen in a dedicated “Awards” section on the corporate website, assigned to the categories of Brand, Product/Innovation, Design and Communication.

For almost 120 years, the name Linde (Material Handling) has stood for reliable technology, intelligent solutions and innovative products that offer users measurable added value. “Our entire workforce is committed to the success of our customers who benefit from our team’s great passion and innovative strength,” said Stefan Prokosch, SVP Brand Management Linde Material Handling.

“That’s why the Linde brand and our technical concepts, vehicle design and communication have won countless awards. We are particularly proud of these accolades because they are proof that our customers appreciate our commitment to offering the highest possible level of efficiency, safety, ergonomics and sustainability. With the new Award section on our homepage, we are making this success transparent for all visitors.”

2021 – another award-winning year

One of the most coveted awards in the material handling industry in Germany once again went to Linde MH in 2021. On behalf of the VerkehrsRundschau magazine, an independent market research institute surveyed a representative number of purchasing decision-makers from the transport and logistics sectors about the best-known brands.

Right back in 2002, when Springer Fachmedien München GmbH and the publishing house Heinrich Vogel offered the Image Award for the first time in the category “Forklift trucks, Handling and Warehouse Technology”, Linde MH won the coveted prize. Since then, the competition in this category has been held at different intervals. The constant, however, is the goods handling specialist, who has always emerged as the winner since then.

The VerkehrsRundschau editorial team commented on the latest results as follows: “When it comes to forklift trucks, pallet trucks, order pickers and so on, no manufacturer is as well regarded as Linde Material Handling.”

Linde MH also continued its successes of recent years in the 2021 readers’ poll carried out by publishing house ETM. For the 10th time, the company won the “Best Brands” award offered by the publications trans aktuell, lastauto omnibus, FERNFAHRER and eurotransport.de, which recognises innovative products and services from the transport and logistics industry. But it was not only in terms of brand image that Linde MH was able to impress customers and experts.

In the “materialfluss PRODUCT OF THE YEAR 2021” readers’ poll, the automated Linde R-MATIC reach truck took first place in the Industrial Trucks category. Moreover, the access authorisation system “Linde Safety Guard: Door Control” emerged victorious in the Identification Technology category. The competition, which was launched in 2020, is decided via online voting.

A large number of awards have been received over the past few decades. The various types fill a large glass showcase in the reception area of Linde MH’s headquarters in Aschaffenburg. Among them is the Business Superbrands Award, which is given by Superbrands Germany, the world’s largest brand evaluation organisation, who has listed Linde MH as one of the top companies in its industry since 2020.

Other prizes have been awarded in honour of innovations. One example is the “Best Practice Innovations” award from Logistra magazine, which belongs to the Huss publishing house. In this instance, an award was given in 2014 for the practical viability and innovative concept of the company’s fuel cell technology, and another was awarded in 2020 for Linde’s latest IC counterbalance trucks.

In the same year, the judges of the Fork Lift Truck Association (FTLA) were impressed by the ergonomic steering wheel of the Linde N20 C low-lift order picker and presented it with the coveted “Award for Excellence” in the “Ergonomics” category.

Increasingly, assistance and personal protection systems are becoming the focus of awards. One example is the “interactive warning vest for the protection of persons in in-warehouse traffic”. This solution, which is unique in the industry, received the 2021 Industry Award, presented by WirtschaftsWoche and DEKRA, in the category “Safety at Work”.

And the list of successes still does not end there: “interairport Europe 2019 Excellence Award”, “Öko Globe” and “MM Logistik Award” are further examples.

Added to this is the large number of accumulated design awards: Over the years, Linde MH has won as many as 10 “reddot” and 12 “iF Product Design” awards. Linde MH received its first iF Design Award in 1985 for the legendary 351 series forklift model in the henceforth typical Porsche industrial design.

In 2018, the roadster version of the Linde E20 R to E35 R electric forklift range was honoured with the prestigious French industrial design award Observeur du Design, which is presented annually by the design association Agence pour la promotion de la création industrielle (APCI). The German Design Award followed in 2019, presented in recognition of the exceptional forklift model designed without an A-pillar, which offers even better visibility of the driving area and load.

Last, but not least, Linde MH proved its creativity in terms of communication and marketing and was found to be worthy of a corresponding award. In particular, the StaplerCup, a championship in which forklift drivers can demonstrate their skills and promote occupational safety, has earned the company numerous prizes over the years – including the “Best of Business (BoB)”, “ECON”, “DPRG”, “Galaxy” and “PR Report Award Gold” awards.

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