In the spotlight

By its nature, change is gradual in logistics as very significant investments are needed and they tend to have considerable knock-on implications that need to be thought through. So IMHX – a large show that comes around every three years – is a great benchmark. IMHX had plenty of food for though on the direction of travel within logistics.

This was most pronounced in automation. IMHX is a show dominated by large forklift manufacturers and it was striking to see how much emphasis they were placing on automated and semi-automated solutions. 

Toyota Material Handling had the largest stand at the show and among the highlights for Toyota were a BT Optio OSE250 – a low level order picker – which came with remote drive. The manufacturer also had an automated reach truck on show, and dazzled visitors with its Future Technology tour – giving a peak at tomorrow's world in terms of handling technology.

The stand of Linde Material Handling featured an automation zone focusing on its relationship with robotics firm Balyo, Linde's partners in engineering the next generation of automated trucks. Plus the show came only a few months after Linde's parent company Kion Group bought automation provider Dematic (who were also at IMHX). This opens up even more dramatic possibilities for Linde to work automated elements into its offering in the UK. Indeed Linde revealed at the show that a major UK grocer had asked Linde to work with Dematic prior to the acquisition deal being announced.

Crown unveiled two interesting developments in semi-automation. One is an alternative to standard VNA and features Auto Positioning System technology on its TSP Series turret trucks. The truck operator does not have to navigate the truck form location to location and can focus on picking. This adds efficiency and evens out the performance difference between seasoned and novice forklift operators.

The company has also diversified its remote glove control technology. It launched Quick Pick Remote to much success at IMHX 2013 and now versions are available for remote gloved control of stackers (Quick Lift) and also to command tow tractor trains to feed production lines – good developments of an already impressive technology.

Similarly the Jungheinrich easyPILOT on the ECE horizontal order picker significantly improves picking performance while relieving strain on the driver. The truck automatically moves with the operator and stops as soon as he uses the remote control or reaches a pre-defined destination.

Forklifts

In terms of conventional lift trucks, a few models stood out. Toyota unveiled the world premiere of its new BT Reflex RRE reach truck range promising top level performance. 

Meanwhile Doosan showcased 16 trucks on its stand, including the latest of its 7-series models. Prominent on the stand was the new Doosan 25-tonne diesel forklift, which is aimed at the steel industry, ports, container and cabin handling and heavy manufacturing industries. The manufacturer has already sold its first model to General Electric at Heathrow.

Maxing the cube

The show also highlighted innovation in specialist trucks designed to manoeuvre in very limited space – key products now most logistics operations are facing space constraints of one type or another. 

The Bendi Spacemate is an attachment that is designed to convert a standard forklift into a VNA stacker at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a specialist truck for the job. Using a bridging principle, the attachment extends to back of the rack, lifting a load of up to 1.3 tonnes. The usual 100mm clearance is not required, therefore reducing wasted space. Bendi MD Simon Brown says: "The standard reaction at the show has been – why has no one thought if this before? We've got patents on this and we're very excited about its potential." 

Another key trend in the narrow aisles of the warehouse is increased use of powerful pedestrian operated trucks. The Flexi AC NANO TW/FW pedestrian-operated VNA truck offers a low-cost way to achieve space saving and storage efficiencies. The machine's straddle leg design means it can lift long 1800kg loads to heights of up to 6 metres. Impressive.

IMHX also saw the world premiere of the Combilift Combi-CS pedestrian stacker – a walk behind Combi-Counterbalanced Stacker. The patented multi-position tiller arm is a key feature on the machine for optimum narrow aisle performance. The tiller can be turned to the left or right of the unit to position the rear drive wheel, allowing the operator to remain at the side of the machine rather than at the rear as is the case with other pedestrian stackers.

Feeling energised

Forklift truck power was also high on the agenda and perhaps surprisingly there was innovation outside the world of lithium-ion batteries. 

Flogas launched the Gaslight composite LPG cylinder. Made from plastic and fibre glass, the cylinders are almost half the weight of traditional LPG cylinders, don't explode in fires and because they are translucent, operators can see at a glance when to refill. Clever stuff.

Staying with gas, Calor used IMHX to announce its BioLPG product, aimed at firms looking to green their forklift fleets. A premium product, the BioLPG will be available from the second quarter of next year and is said to give 32% savings on greenhouse gas emissions without reducing performance, based on an allocation of 40% BioLPG and 60% conventional LPG. 

On the diesel side, Kubota used IMHX 2016 as a platform to showcase its new diesel ‘Power Packs’ in the power range up to 55kW. They have been developed to ensure OEMs have a solution to meet EU Stage V emissions regulations, which come in to force in 2019. The Packs feature common rail technology and exhaust gas treatment in accordance with Stage V legislation.

There were also too many lithium ion powered products to mention here. One interesting nuance is from Crown, which introduced lithium ion powered warehouse equipment that could be swapped to run on lead acid batteries, with only a software change.

Catching the eye

Goplasticpallets.com caught our eye with the launch of the Nest M1, the first one-eighth retail pallet to the supply chain industry.

Designed and manufactured by CABKA-IPS, the pallet is small, lightweight and nestable, tailor-made for point-of-sale and retail. Made with secure location points, product displays and sleeves can be safely and effortlessly fixed to the pallet.

As retail buying patterns continue to change – and the shop moves from its traditional reliance on the out of town shopping centre towards more frequent visits to convenience stores – products such as the Nest M1 will become increasingly important.

We always have an eye out for technology that could save money for warehouse managers, and the Rhino II from Gondola Skate is a novel concept that caught our attention.

Again, it's a relatively simple idea, but one that is rarely deployed. The Rhino II is basically a mobile jack that allows you to reconfigure racking – quickly and inexpensively according to Gondola. They saved B&Q £700,000 moving fixtures in a warehouse and allowed Amazon to move in six hours what had previously taken 80 hours. Warehouse remodelling is an increasingly frequent requirement as logistics because more dynamic (think eCommerce, space constraints to mention just two factors), we can see a lot of potential for the Rhino II.

Software solutions

While hardware tends to be more prominent by far at exhibitions, there were a lot of whispers about the power of software at IMHX, with many forklift manufacturers admitting that the lion's share of future R&D is expected to focus on software.

Voice specialists Voiteq announced the launch of its next generation business intelligence solution VoiceMan Data Analysis at the show. It means intralogistics data can be analysed without ‘walking the floor’. This can be used to identify bottlenecks, weekly and daily shortage counts, mismatches in staff deployment, review productivity rates by person, team or zone, for example. Information can be retained for long-term analysis, allowing for precise comparison against standard or bespoke KPIs.

Toyota Material Handling UK launched a truck management tool called My Fleet. This is an extension of Toyota’s I_Site truck management system that gives customers access to service and rental information for their fleet. The information for My Fleet is taken directly from Toyota’s trucks and service databases and can be accessed by computer or mobile device.

Continuing the fleet management theme, and moving more specifically into safety, the Elokon Zoning Product ELOshield stood out as well as its VNA Truck Anti-Collision solution ELOprotect.

Deploying sensors and RFID the system adds a layer of protection to the busy warehouse. It is designed to prevent the sort of incident which recently resulted in loss of life when two VNA trucks collided in an aisle.

RackEye by A-SAFE monitors racking on a permanent, round-the-clock, 24-hour basis. The sensors provide instant alerts when racking is impacted, offering the ability to identify damage that is difficult to spot but erodes rack integrity. The system is tied together with an App that allows the warehouse manager easy access, and perhaps most impressively the whole thing was conceived and executed, software and all, within A-Safe. 

This is simply a snapshot – showing some of my highlights for 2016's IMHX. There were plenty of other noteworthy products and solutions which we are looking forward to featuring in upcoming editions of the magazine.