2023 IFOY Award winners are named!

July 28, 2023

The 2023 International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) Award winners have been announced! The winners claimed their prizes at a glamorous awards ceremony in the Dortmunder U, attended by around 200 guests from business, science, politics, and the media.

Representatives of Agilox, Crown, DS Automotion, Hunic, and STILL accepted their IFOY awards from the laudators, while Jungheinrich took home two of the trophies, also known as the “Oscars of intralogistics”.

The world-renowned international intralogistics award is held under the patronage of Robert Habeck, Germany’s Federal Minister of Economics and Climate Protection, and in its 11^th iteration in 2023, a total of 21 companies with 23 products and solutions were named as finalists – more than ever before. “The jury made one of its toughest decisions in April, sending a signal for more technology in logistics. Already during the IFOY Test Days, the outstanding level of this year’s finalists was evident, some of whom are streets ahead of their competitors on the market in terms of innovation and customer benefits. Their products and solutions will be the future benchmark for modern distribution centres,” says Anita Würmser, executive chairperson of the IFOY jury.

The new AGILOX ODM omnidirectional dolly mover is an intelligent logistics robot for small load carriers. Thanks to its proven integrated X-Swarm Technology, it independently finds the fastest route through its production or logistics environment in real time.

The IFOY Award in the category “Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV/AMR)” was won by Agilox with the Agilox ODM. This omnidirectional dolly mover is a smart logistics robot for small load carriers. Thanks to X-Swarm Technology, the floor dolly solution autonomously finds the fastest route through its production or logistics environment. Among other things, the jury very positively highlighted the ODM’s autonomous functions for avoiding obstacles on its route.

Crown was the winner in the category “Warehouse Truck Highlifter” with the SP 1500 order picking truck, which scored points for performance, efficiency and ergonomics. The IFOY Innovation Check emphasised the “unique ergonomics with very many configuration options developed from studies directly at customers’ premises”. It also highlighted “the use in different aisle widths, a unique individually adjustable operation, as well as the excellent field of vision”.

The SP 1500 high-level order picker is an innovative, ergonomic operator platform designed to address the evolving marketplace needs of store retail and e-commerce order picking.

In the “Intralogistics Software” category, DS Automotion took home a trophy for its Arcos vehicle software. The IT makes it possible for the first time to have AGV and Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) fleets drive using ‘variably zone-based between fixed lane’ guidance, lane guidance with flexible avoidance, and free navigation with a single flexible vehicle software (plannable autonomy). In combination with cooperative navigation, which enables the robots to take coordinated evasive action, the jury noted that the DS Automation offers a very efficient solution that can also integrate vehicles from other manufacturers via the VDA 5050 interface.

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) are known for the tireless execution of their transport orders. They travel rigidly predefined routes and deliver the respective transport loads to their destinations. Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), on the other hand, are responsible for reaching their destinations themselves. DS Automotion has combined the strengths of both AMRs and AGVs to set a milestone in the industry.

Five young companies competed for the award in the “Start-up of the Year” category in 2023. In a close race, Hunic ultimately convinced the jurors with the SoftExo Lift. This passive exoskeleton is an extremely lightweight yet effective lifting and carrying aid. The SoftExo Lift optimises working posture during lifting, effectively reducing the forces acting on the back by up to 50% with simultaneous force distribution. In addition, the resilience of the leg support lends up to 21% more power when lifting. According to the jurors, the great innovative leap lies in the design of the exoskeleton from exclusively elastic materials.

The passive SoftExo Lift exoskeleton is an extremely lightweight but effective body-worn lifting and carrying aid, developed for the logistics sector and industry in general.

Jungheinrich won the “Special of the Year” category with its addedVIEW fork camera. The fully digital fork camera with barcode scanning reduces storage and retrieval errors. It prevents incorrectly recorded goods or storage locations in the Warehouse Management System (WMS), eliminating unplanned search times, returns, and loss of goods. The camera reads barcodes directly at the storage location, compares them with the specifications of the WMS, and marks correct and incorrect compartments in colour as the vehicle passes.

The addedVIEW fork camera is equipped with additional intelligence that, with the help of coloured overlays in the camera image, makes it possible to recognise whether the correct or incorrect barcode is located in front of the fork as it passes by. An acknowledgement button near the steering wheel keeps the forklift driver’s hands on the controls of the industrial truck, instead of having to reach for the scanner, scan items, and put it back every time. Although Jungheinrich’s individual technologies are not new in themselves, the jury’s verdict stated that “the combination in this exemplary implementation is to be regarded as highly innovative”.

Jungheinrich also took home a second trophy, securing the win in the “Intralogistics Robot” category with its PowerCube. This automated compact tote storage system offers access from below, allowing for easier maintenance and variable ceiling heights. The jury highlighted several innovations, including the tote loading weight of 50kg and a quick-charge function for round-the-clock operation of the robots without downtime.

More efficient, faster, and extremely flexible: as an automated compact storage system for containers, the Jungheinrich PowerCube sets new standards in warehousing.

Intralogistics supplier STILL, meanwhile, won one of the coveted awards for its EXH 16 in the “Warehouse Truck Lowlifter” category. The truck is part of the EXH 14-20 Plus series hand-guided lowlifters and derivatives with additional lift for order-picking applications. The compact design, together with the new functional tiller head and the resulting improvements in operation and driving characteristics, are classified as “undoubtedly new” by the IFOY Innovation Check. The EXH thus shows that innovations have not yet found their peak in this vehicle class.

STILL’s EXH 14-20 Plus series consists of hand-guided low lift pallet trucks, as well as derivative products with additional lift for order picking applications. It comes with a unique tiller head with integrated display in two versions, the design of which enables intuitive handling.

The IFOY Award honours the most innovative intralogistics products and solutions of the year. It has established itself as an indicator of cost-effectiveness and innovation and due to its technical expertise is regarded as the outstanding international innovation award in intralogistics. The basis of the decision is the three-stage audit: the IFOY test protocol comprising around 80 criteria, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, and the jury test. The decisive factor is that the nominees are not compared with each other, but with their competitor devices on the market.

During the IFOY Test Days during the Test Camp Intralogistics held in Dortmund in March, all nominees went through the IFOY audit. For the fourth year in a row, numerous potential buyers were on hand at the Test Camp Intralogistics.

The winners of the IFOY Award are chosen annually by an international jury of trade journalists – including Charleen Clarke, editor of FOCUS. The Award is sponsored by the German Conveyor Technology and Intralogistics Association and the Robotics + Automation Association within the VDMA. Messe Dortmund and leading forklift attachment manufacturer Cascade are IFOY partners. The IFOY Award’s pallet partner is CHEP, the world market leader in the pooling of pallets and containers. The logistics partner is LTG and the trailer partner is Fliegl Fahrzeugbau.

The application phase for the 2024 IFOY Awards starts on 1 August 2023.