VDMA announces "International Forklift Truck of the Year" (IFOY) Award

• German Engineering Federation (VDMA) creates IFOY Award for materials handling equipment
• International jury made up of leading trade journalists puts forklift and warehouse trucks through their paces and presents awards to the year's best new products
• IIFOY Premiere in May 2013

Frankfurt a.M., May 23, 2012. International Forklift Truck of the Year, IFOY for short. This is the name of the new award that will be presented to the crème de la crème in the field of industrial trucks. The plans were announced today at the CeMAT International Press Day in Hannover by the VDMA Materials Handling and Logistics Systems Sector Association, the initiator and sponsor of the award.

"The IFOY will be awarded to the best industrial trucks and related solutions in a neutral and transparent selection process backed up by the highest level of specialist expertise", is how Sascha Schmel from VDMA Materials Handling and Logistics Systems describes the key features of the award. The central goal, said Schmel, is to document the performance capability and innovative drive of the industrial truck sector, helping to boost competitiveness and raise the profile of the entire intralogistics sector in the public arena.

The Award is to be presented annually from 2013 onwards in cooperation with the CeMAT intralogistics fair. "With its many integral events, the world's leading fair for intralogistics is without doubt the appropriate setting for the presentation of the new "industry Oscar", said Dr. Andreas Gruchow, member of the Board of Management of Deutsche Messe AG in Hannover.

IFOY Jury: international logistics journalists 

A year's worth of effort has been invested in the creation of the IFOY organisation, the centrepiece of which will be an independent jury made up of internationally reputed trade journalists. Munich-based logistics journalist Anita Würmser has been appointed chair of the jury; she is responsible for selecting the members of the first jury and has been entrusted with the management of IFOY. During the last 25 years, the logistics expert has made a name for herself as a communication consultant and editor-in-chief of various logistics magazines.

IIFOY Awards: counter balanced trucks, warehouse trucks, forklift truck solutions

Overall, the jury members will be presenting four awards in the two product categories "Counter Balanced Trucks" and "Warehouse Trucks" as well as in the hands-on solution category "Forklift Truck Solutions". In the counter balanced truck segment, the new products will be competing for the award in the weight classes up to 3.5 tons and above 3.5 tons. The warehouse trucks vying for victory will be pedestrian-controlled warehouse trucks, tow tractors, seated/standup material handling devices, VNA trucks and reach trucks. The award is open to newly developed products, optimised products or special models with significant technical modifications that came onto the market between June 15, 2011 and September 24, 2012. Facelifts, blueprints and prototypes are not eligible.
In addition to conferring the product awards, the jury will also recognise a successfully implemented system solution in the category "Forklift Truck Solutions".

The IFOY Test: Europe's toughest test for forklift trucks

The selection procedure is divided into two phases. In the first phase, the jury reviews all entries and nominates a maximum of five trucks and solutions in each category. The shortlisted trucks are then subjected to a purpose-developed IFOY test over the course of one week. The IFOY testing standard is based on the Andersom Test developed by Dutch trade journalist Theo Egberts. Since 1988, a total of 300 different forklift and warehouse trucks have undergone the Andersom Test. This has led to the creation of the biggest comparison database of independent test data anywhere in Europe and is considered the benchmark for the sector. The test will assess a number of criteria, including cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency, sustainability, safety, ergonomics and design. Jury chair Würmser is convinced that "with its objective comparison data and a testing day on which jury members can experience and test all the nominated trucks close-up, the IFOY Test will for the first time enable a jury to compare the innovative quality of the shortlisted trucks, laying the foundation for a truly objective verdict. This quality standard makes IFOY a one-of-a-kind and will play a key role in promoting the image and the acceptance of the award".

The entry phase for the IFOY 2013 award begins on October 30, 2012; the closing date for submissions is December 21, 2012.
The IFOY organisation will provide further information as well as details of entry guidelines and statutes on the new www.ifoy.net website, which will go online in the summer.

Background for the editorial desk:
The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) is one of the key association service providers and comprises the largest engineering industry network in Europe with around 3,000 member companies. The VDMA is divided into 38 sector and six regional associations. The Materials Handling and Logistics Systems Sector Association represents more than 200 companies. The turnover of the German intralogistics sector is in the order of 16 billion euros (2011). The VDMA headquarters are in Frankfurt/Main. The VDMA Materials Handling and Logistics Systems Sector Association is the sponsor of the "International Forklift Truck of the Year" award.

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Anita Würmser
Chair of the IFOY Jury
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