48 DC VELOCITY MAY 2016
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implemented, says Gaskell.
b Stability enhancements. Lift truck makers have
made a variety of design changes to help prevent tipping when loads are elevated. Improvements in the
design and placement of outriggers, counterbalance
weights, and (in high-lift trucks) operator compartments
are just some of the features that have contributed to
better stability.
Toyota says it has paid special attention to stability with its unique System
of Active Stability (SAS) and Active
Mast Control (AMC) technologies for
sit-down counterbalanced trucks.
When the SAS detects factors that lead
to potential lateral instability, it locks
a hydraulic cylinder on the rear steer
axle, changing the forklift’s stability
footprint from a triangular shape to
rectangular to decrease the likelihood
of a tipover. The AMC system senses factors like load weight and mast
height that lead to longitudinal instability. If needed, it will automatically override the operator’s manual control and
limit the forward tilt as well as the reverse tilt speed to
reduce the chance of spilling a load or tipping the forklift.
THE FUTURE OF FORKLIFT SAFETY
While the industry has made great strides in forklift safety in the past few years, the OEMs are confident there
are more improvements to come. Some will be inspired
by developments outside the material handling industry. Hyundai’s Chuck Leone, for one, foresees lift truck
makers adopting more safety-enhancing technologies
from the automotive and trucking industries. As technologies like laser-guided collision-avoidance systems
are perfected and become more common, forklift OEMs
will adapt them for material handling applications, he
predicts.
Justin Byma of Raymond says he expects a surge of
interactive training tools that will help to improve forklift
safety in the future. These tools will be based on simulation and gaming technology, and will help a new generation of operators learn how to properly operate material
handling equipment in a virtual environment, he says.
Effective application of technology will be fundamen-
tal to further progress on safety, forklift executives
agree. For example, Bob Hasenstab, general product
manager at Kion North America Corp., forecasts that
future improvements are likely to come from such
developments as automated forklifts with object-de-
tecting sensors, weight- and height-sensing devices to
ensure proper lifting, noise and vibration reduction to
reduce fatigue levels, and automatic speed reduction to
adjust to load weight and curves.
The kind of programmable controls and semi-automation described by Hasenstab were at the top of several
MCFA, whose Jungheinrich brand
offers the Warehouse Navigation
semi-automation system for remotely
controlling lift truck operation, notes
that lift trucks are becoming sophisticated “computers on wheels” that
allow customers to customize and
program many aspects of the forklift’s
operation to meet particular requirements, thereby helping to reduce risks
stemming from operators’ errors in
judgment. For example, using location
signals from radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, Jungheinrich’s system can control a lift truck’s acceleration, travel speeds, lift heights, stops, and avoidance of
overhead objects.
Yale recently joined the field with its A-Ware control
solution, which also uses RFID sensing to enforce travel
speed, acceleration, and lift restrictions. The company
says its system can also adjust to the nuances of each
aisle, identifying high-traffic areas and automatically
detecting dead-ends to reduce the risk of collisions.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO PEOPLE
Equipment design and technology are extremely important tools for improving safety, but they can—and
should—only go so far. It’s important that operators are
not lulled into expecting the forklift to do everything
for them, or believing that the technology takes the
responsibility for safe operation off their shoulders, says
Crown’s Gaskell.
That was something every lift truck OEM we polled
agreed on, and which many emphasized. Tony Kordes
of UniCarriers spoke for all of them when he said,
“Manufacturers design with the standards in mind and
create the best equipment to encourage proper use and
protect operators in case of accidents, but nothing can
be designed into a lift truck to make it perform safely
with an operator who doesn’t use it that way. So the
absolute best way to improve operator and warehouse
safety is to train every operator properly and continually
refresh and reinforce those practices. Operators still
must take responsibility for their actions.” b
