South Africa and India get IFOY jury seats!

We have great news! South Africa and India are each getting an International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY Award) jury seat. And South Africa is represented by none other than Charleen Clarke, editorial director of FOCUS!

The IFOY Award is to the field of logistics what the Oscars are to the movie industry: a Seriously Big Deal. Specifically, the IFOY Award recognises – and then rewards – the year’s best intralogistics products and systems. Naturally, the awards programme also helps to boost competitiveness and raise the profile of the entire sector in the public arena.

The award was developed and implemented many years ago by logistics journalist Anita Würmser. She is the founder of the Logistics Hall of Fame and has created and staged many highly reputed awards and competitions, including the “Image Rankings for Logistics and Commercial Vehicles”, the “Best Apprentice” and “Logistics Masters” competitions for young high-performers to mention, but a few. As a logistics expert, she is a member of various juries.

All manufacturers of materials handling equipment and intralogistics providers who offer their products and services on the European market can enter for an award.

The winners of the IFOY Award are selected once a year by an independent jury of international trade journalists, who assess the innovation, technology, design, ergonomics, handling, safety, cost effectiveness and sustainability of the trucks. In the Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV)/Shuttle/Robots/Software categories the jury assesses the innovation of products in the context of their applications. In the Warehouse Solution category, the primary criterion is the level of innovation of an overall integrated intralogistics solution in a specific application. The jury attaches major importance to the detailed description of the solution and its proven success. Corresponding performance figures are therefore essential.

With effect from October 2020, the jury now includes journalists from South Africa and India. Charleen Clarke, editorial director of FOCUS, is representing South Africa, while Reji John – editor of The STAT Trade Times, The Indian Transport and Logistics News and Logistics Update Africa – is representing India. A total of 27 editors-in-chief of leading international logistics publications from 20 nations are now represented on the IFOY jury.

Clarke describes the jury membership as “a massive honour”. “I am humbled by this opportunity. Thank you so very much Anita Würmser and Thilo Jörgl and of course all the existing jury members who voted for me. I look forward to writing about the IFOY Award in FOCUS on Transport and Logistics. Congrats to Reji John on your election to the jury too. I am looking forward to working with you and all the other jury members from around the world,” she says.

The jury members – including Clarke and John – will have the opportunity to test and judge the world’s best new developments among intralogistics products and solutions at the beginning of 2021.

The products and solutions nominated for the final will undergo individually tailored driving or functional tests during the IFOY Test Days 2021 at the end of January at the Hannover Exhibition Centre. About 80 criteria will be evaluated. Watch this space for lots of news pertaining to the IFOY Award in the future.