On June 19, the logistics magazine BUSINESS+LOGISTIC published by Austrian publishing company RS Verlag staged the first national presentation of the International Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) Award during the 20th Austrian Logistics Conference in Linz. With around 1,000 visitors, the mega-event organised by the Association for Network Logistics (VNL) is considered to be the biggest logistics event in Austria.

The Austrian branches of the victorious Crown, Jungheinrich and Still brands were presented with the awards sponsored by RS Verlag by congratulatory speakers Prof. Hans-Christian Graf (University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Steyr Campus), Prof. Dirk Jodin (Graz University of Technology), Boris Ringwald from the Fronius company and journalist and Executive Jury Chairperson Anita Würmser.

The IFOY Award was presented for the first time on June 4 during a gala event at the "transport logistic" trade fair in four categories: Forklift Truck Solution, Warehouse Truck, Counter Balance Truck up to 3.5 tons and Counter Balance Truck from 3.5 tons. Nine trucks and three implemented intralogistics solutions from manufacturers Clark, Crown, Jungheinrich and Still were put through their paces in the one-week IFOY Test and then assessed and evaluated by a 14-member jury made up of trade journalists from eight countries. The jury member from Austria was Hans-Joachim Schlobach, Publisher-Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the business magazine BUSINESS+LOGISTIC and Managing Director of the RS Verlag publishing firm.

"We are delighted to present the award to the Austrian branches of the IFOY winners and to make public the outstanding achievements of the intralogisitics sector", said Katrin Reisinger, Publisher-Editor of BUSINESS+LOGISTIC, the leading logistics medium for the German-speaking Danube region, and Managing Director of RS Verlag. "The first national IFOY Award presentation by BUSINESS+LOGISTIC is an important milestone in the development of the IFOY Award. Anita Würmser is convinced that "the first national IFOY Award presentation by BUSINESS+LOGISTIC is an important milestone in the development of the IFOY Award and will set a major benchmark", while Schlobach adds: "This serves to show that IFOY has finally arrived on the international scene."

Photos: Pelzl, Cityfoto/RS Verlag