IFOY AWARD 2024
The winners are ...

The winners of the IFOY AWARD 2024 have been announced: Congratulations to Brightpick, Jungheinrich, RAVAS EUROPE, SAFELOG with Mercedes, SSI Schäfer, STILL

The international jury of the 2024 global intralogistics competition nominated a total of 16 products and solutions from 15 companies in seven categories and voted on the winners following a three-stage audit.

The results at a glance:

The winner in the “Warehouse Truck highlifter” category is the EJC 112i from Jungheinrich. The compact highlifter, which can be charged at any power socket, delivered an impressive performance in the IFOY audit, proving its position as the new benchmark in the entry-level segment for pedestrian stackers. The jury was particularly impressed by the intuitive operation, the small turning circle and the exceptionally high lifting and lowering speeds. The residual load capacity of 650 kilograms at a height of 4.7 m is the new benchmark in this class.

After an exciting finish in the “Special of the Year” category, RAVAS EUROPE wins with its fork carriage scale iCP with Weighing-in-Motion technology for calibrated weighing of the load during transportation. The basis for iCP is an existing weighing system. The intelligence lies in a smart box and the algorithms developed by RAVAS, which provide reliable measurements even on uneven ground. The decisive factor for the jury's vote was that Legal for Trade customers can bill on the basis of weight with the OIML-certified system.

The highly competitive “Mobile Robot” category was won by the series-based EXV iGo from STILL. The automated pallet truck for production supply and the pre-storage zone can be operated both manually and automatically. It offers a high residual load capacity of up to 1600 kg, can lift goods up to 3.8 m and achieves a remarkable speed of up to 2 m/sec. The quick commissioning in combination with a new, intuitive user interface makes the series-based Mobile Robot a smart door opener into the world of automated warehouse processes, especially for SMEs, according to the jury.

In the “Stationary Robot” category, the SSI Piece Picking Module from SSI SCHAEFER came out on top after a thrilling finish. The robot cell in container format for piece picking takes care of feeding, removal and safety technology. SSI SCHAEFER has found solutions for typical gripping errors, double picks or incorrect depositing. Centrifugal forces, which occur with articulated robots, are also a thing of the past; this is ensured by a miniature gantry robot with suction cups, which moves the gripper to any position on the source and target containers and handles even sensitive goods safely. The jury was particularly impressed by the short commissioning time of just one day.

SAFELOG won the IFOY AWARD 2024 in the top category “Integrated Customer Solution” for its AGV swarm in the Mercedes Factory 46. The jury selected the future vision of the Mercedes-Benz production system, which was developed and implemented in close cooperation between SAFELOG and the car manufacturer, as the best customer solution of the year. Mercedes-Benz is responsible for the software, while SAFELOG is responsible for the hardware, including around 350 AGVs, and the project implementation. The jury particularly emphasized the high customer benefit: this starts with the low price and the robust implementation, extends to the software ecosystem developed together with Mercedes and ends with an availability of 99.7 to 99.9 percent, which in practice means 40 hours less downtime.

A total of four young companies competed for victory at the IFOY Start-up of the Year Award. Intralogistics shooting star Brightpick won the race with the world's first autonomous, mobile picking robot Brightpick Autopicker. The AI-based 2-in-1 robot from the company, which was founded in Bratislava in 2021, picks and picks while traveling in the rack aisle without the robot having to return to a base station. It can also be used for other tasks such as pallet picking, warehouse replenishment, dynamic storage or normal goods-to-person picking. The jury particularly emphasized this versatility and the 50 percent reduction in picking costs.

The IFOY AWARD recognizes the most innovative intralogistics products and solutions of the year. It has established itself as an indicator of efficiency and innovation and is regarded as an outstanding international innovation prize in intralogistics due to its technical expertise. The decision is based on the three-stage audit - consisting of the IFOY test protocol comprising around 80 criteria, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check and the jury test. The decisive factor is that the nominees are not compared with each other, but with their competitors on the market. During the IFOY TEST DAYS on the occasion of the TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS in April in Dortmund, all nominees underwent the IFOY audit.

IFOY TEST DAYS 2024
16 nominated products and solutions undergo the IFOY audit

 

Agilox, BOX ID Systems, Brightpick, Crown, CYBRID, GLOBE Fuel Cell Systems, HWArobotics, Innok Robotics, Jungheinrich, MEYSENS, MOCCI, RAVAS Europe, SAFELOG, SSI Schäfer and STILL successfully passed the three-stage IFOY audit as part of the IFOY TEST in Dortmund.

The IFOY Audit begins with the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, which is carried out by the Dortmund-based Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the Chair of Technical Logistics at the University of Dresden, the Chair of Materials Handling Material Flow Logistics at the Technical University of Munich and the Stuttgart-based Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. The scientists assess the finalists in terms of market relevance, customer benefit, type of design and degree of innovation. They also verify the innovations specified by the manufacturers and evaluate in a comprehensive technology comparison whether they are innovative further developments, new compositions or genuine innovations.

The second part of the IFOY audit consists of a consultation with a practical evaluation and the practice-oriented IFOY test by specialist journalist and intralogistics expert Theo Egberts. The Dutchman measures the hard facts and compares them with those of the relevant competitor products. The equipment undergoes individually tailored driving and functional tests, including the IFOY test protocol, which covers around 80 criteria and determines the cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency, sustainability, safety and ergonomics of the equipment.

The audit concludes with the evaluation of the finalists by the jury members and their approved advisors. The jury members make a final decision based on the IFOY Innovation Check, the IFOY test results and their own test experience and then cast their vote. The winner of one of the 2024 awards, also known as the "Oscars of intralogistics", will not be announced yet. The well-kept secret - even for finalists - will only be revealed during the festive IFOY AWARD Night. It will take place on June 14, 2024 in Baden near Vienna

TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS a great success

The fourth edition of TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS came to an end on April 10 and 11 with numerous highlights. A total of more than 1,200 participants came to the fully booked test hall at Messe Dortmund on both days to test a selection of the best innovations and new developments in intralogistics. Including the IFOY finalists, test sets with more than 100 innovations were set up on around 10,000 square meters. B2B visitors once again had a wide range of products and solutions for their in-house logistics at their disposal: from forklift trucks and automated warehouse technology devices to mobile robots, logistics software and state-of-the-art specials.