A novel approach to boosting forklift safety and productivity at an economical cost won the “Best New Innovation”
award at the ProMat material handling trade show in
Chicago.
The product, called “Forklift Simulator,” was created by
a Belgian tech startup company of the same name. Users
sit in an authentic replica forklift driver’s seat and grab the
dummy vehicle controls, then don virtual reality headgear
that displays a 360-degree view of their computer-generated
surroundings.
As if they were playing a video game, trainees can then
practice maneuvers of increasing difficulty to build their
skills and confidence without creating a safety risk for
themselves, the lift truck, other workers, or warehouse or
distribution center equipment.
Trainers can upload customized scenarios as well as set
the unit to duplicate the controls and technologies on the
forklift brand used in their own facility. The prize was
awarded March 25 by the material handling industry group
MHI at its 70th anniversary banquet following the trade
show.
MHI also gave the CubiScan 25 dimensioning and weighing system its “Best Innovation of an Existing Product”
award. Created by Quantronix Inc. of Farmington, Utah,
the unit measures small and irregular-shaped items to
enhance cartonization, reduce packaging material use, and
decrease potential hikes in dimensional weight shipping
charges.
Virtual lift truck trainer wins MHI innovation award
alliances
Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc., the North
American division of the lift truck manufacturer, and
I.D. Systems, a provider of wireless solutions, have exe-
cuted a strategic partnership agreement to develop and
deploy a new wireless industrial vehicle management
system. … Competitive Insights is collaborating with
the Georgia Institute of Technology to deliver the first
“Enterprise Profit Analytics” course that focuses on
opportunities to drive profit contributions across the
enterprise. … Burris Logistics, a provider of custom-
ized retail distribution services and a specialist in the
temperature-controlled supply chain, has renewed an
agreement with The Fresh Market Inc., a specialty gro-
cery retailer. … Brazilian consumer products and goods
distributor Etilux has selected HighJump’s warehouse
management system (WMS). In addition, Quality Bicycle
Products estimates it has increased inventory accuracy
by 15 percent, reduced order cycle time by 10 percent,
and decreased its order error rate by 20 percent since
implementing the HighJump Warehouse Advantage
WMS. … Barcoding Inc., a mobile technology company,
has formed a strategic partnership with B2M Solutions,
a software company that delivers analytics for enter-
prise mobility customers. … PNE Corp., a Canadian pro-
pane distributor, says it has improved customer service
and performance through centralizing its delivery oper-
ations with Descartes’ Route Planner on-demand sched-
uling and dispatch software. … Vanderlande has been
awarded its 100th site-based service contract, following
an agreement with the Airlines Committee of Hawaii
Inc. … Open Sky Group, a consulting company, and JDA
Software Group Inc. have partnered to bring The Gilbert
Co., a third-party logistics service provider specializing in
the retail sector, a comprehensive set of supply chain
software solutions. … Knife company Zwilling J.A.
Henckels has selected International Business Systems’
sales and operations planning software (IBS S&OP) and
IBS Analytics to manage its supply chain. … DMLogic
LLC, a specialist in warehouse management systems soft-
ware and implementation, has been selected as a JDA
Software Group alliance partner. … Canadian software
company Open Text is using Amber Road’s export on-de-
mand solution to address export compliance issues. …
Pet Supplies Plus has selected Transplace to manage all
of its domestic transportation activities. … Americold,
a provider of temperature-controlled warehousing for
the food and beverage industry, worked with material
handling automation systems and software company
viastore to modify an existing system that viastore
had implemented at Americold’s Indianapolis facility.
The modifications allowed the company to boost its
case and pallet picking rates. … Kenco, a provider of
integrated logistics solutions, real estate services, and
material handling equipment, has been chosen as the
exclusive North American provider of logistics services
for Coravin Inc., which makes wine technology. … Peco
Pallet Inc. has added the Sobeys family of stores to its
list of authorized distributors in Canada. … Barcoding
Inc. has implemented a customized bar-code scanning
solution for Canton Port Services LLC, which provides
stevedoring and warehousing services at Baltimore’s
harbor.
