Crown Equipment Corporation recently earned two prestigious awards at international industry events, including a Design for Safety Award at the International Material Handling Exhibition (IMHX) in England and the Best Product for 2013 at LogiMat, the biggest annual intralogistics exhibition in Europe. At IMHX, an independent panel of experts awarded the Crown WT 3040 pallet truck with the Design for Safety Award, which recognizes companies or products that have made a contribution to safety awareness or injury reduction in material handling environments. The panel of judges cited specifically the forklift’s patented Entry Bar Safety Switch, which is designed to stop the truck immediately if the operator’s foot depresses the switch. This helps prevent injuries caused by operators who fail to keep their feet within the perimeter of the truck.  In addition, an independent jury recognized Crown’s QuickPick® Remote with “Best Product 2013” in the “Orderpicking, Packaging and Securing” category at this year’s LogiMat show in Munich, Germany. The QuickPick Remote system uses task automating technologies to simplify workflow and improve the picking process, thereby increasing productivity and reducing operator fatigue. Order selectors simply press a button on a wireless transceiver glove to remotely advance the forklift to the next pick location, greatly reducing the need to return to the operator’s compartment while picking. Crown field studies show that the technology helps reduce the number of steps order selectors take on and off the platform by up to 70 percent.

“These latest awards recognize Crown’s commitment to designing products and technologies that help improve safety and the way people work,” said Mike Gallagher, vice president of design, Crown Equipment. “Ensuring operators are productive, safe and comfortable while they are operating the forklifts ultimately improves the overall productivity and efficiency of the warehouse or material handling environment.”