Some of the best and brightest in manufacturing and engineering attended the Engineering Awards in Manufacturing ceremony on April 3. The Yale^® MPE080VG end rider Driven by Balyo emerged a winner, taking home the gold Plant Engineering Product of the Year in the materials handling category.
 
In its 29^th year, the Plant Engineering Product of the Year awards celebrates innovative solutions that enable managers to run smarter, safer and more efficient facilities. Yale’s end rider Driven by Balyo earned recognition as a robotic load transportation solution capable of easy reconfiguration, dependable operation, reduced total cost of operation and increased labor productivity.
 
The solution uses infrastructure-free navigation technology to independently pick up, transport and drop off pallets anywhere on the floor – recognizing existing structural features to navigate, rather than requiring operations to install tape, wire or other infrastructure. This enables easy adaptation to changing layout configurations and efficient route calculations.
 
“This award is an incredible honor and validation for Yale^® lift trucks Driven by Balyo to improve operational performance and deliver real savings to customers’ bottom line,” says Lou Micheletto, Manager of Integrated Solutions. “The solution can easily scale from a single truck to an entire fleet, and frees valuable labor to take on higher-value tasks.”
 
The truck can also switch to manual mode with the touch of a button, enabling operations to accommodate unexpected demands. Advanced obstacle detection technology controls truck speed and affords smooth, efficient movement by minimizing unnecessary stops and shocks. The Driven by Balyo technology can interface with a facility’s warehouse management system for advanced integration.