The world’s largest and at the same time toughest intralogistics test has come to an end. At the IFOY TEST DAYS in Dortmund, 17 nominees for the International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY AWARD) underwent five days of multi-stage testing. Never before have so many products and solutions been in the final for the "Oscars of intralogistics", and that despite the corona pandemic. Almost 600 participants followed the IFOY TEST DAYS over five days.

New developments from arculus, Cargotec Engineering, HAI ROBOTICS, Hänel, H+E Produktentwicklung, HHLA Sky, the BMW subsidiary idealworks, Interroll Group, NIMMSTA, OPPIDUM TIC, STILL, SYNAOS, VOLUME Lagersysteme and WAKU Robotics were all present in the test arena in Hall 4 of the IFOY partner Messe Dortmund.

From March 22 to 26, the nominees in the ninth round of the competition were critically tested by an official tester, a team of researchers and the international jury, some of whom were digitally connected. Representatives of the 14 manufacturers received the "Best in Intralogistics" certificates for their nominees from Gordon Riske, Chairman of the Board of the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association.

In the TEST CAMP Intralogistics, almost 100 logistics experts from industry, trade and logistics services tested this year’s finalists as well as nominees from previous years in the 8,400 square metre hall. From forklifts and warehouse technology equipment to AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) and software, specials and solutions from five start-ups, a total of more than 30 products and solutions were available in the test arena.

At the beginning of the three-stage IFOY audit for the nominees was once again the practiceoriented IFOY test by Dutch intralogistics expert Theo Egberts. He compared the finalists with the relevant solutions and equipment in the competition. The industrial trucks went through standardised driving and functional tests, including the IFOY test protocol comprising more than 80 criteria, which takes into account factors such as sustainability, economy, safety and ergonomics of the nominees. In the second part of the audit, researchers conducted the IFOY Innovation Check. Scientists from Fraunhofer IML and the Technical Universities of Munich and Dresden assessed the nominees in terms of market relevance, customer benefits, type of execution and degree of innovation. The audit was concluded by the assessment of the 26 jurors and their approved advisors. The jury members, trade journalists from all continents, were presented with all the results of the IFOY Test as well as the IFOY Innovation Check for the voting.

A novelty this year: the live test of the VDA 5050 interface. The world premiere of the so-called AGV Mesh-Up of the VDMA Association for Materials Handling and Intralogistics took place as part of the TEST CAMPS Intralogistics. On an action area, the participating experts were able to watch various AGVs from different manufacturers that drove under a uniform control system and communicated in a common data language. The project was set up by a group of AGV users and manufacturers under the coordination of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and the VDMA Association for Materials Handling and Intralogistics. The manufacturers arculus, DS AUTOMATION, the KION Group with the STILL brand, SAFELOG, Siemens and SSI Schäfer were represented in this test.

In order to protect all participants from infection with the coronavirus, a comprehensive safety and hygiene concept was developed for the IFOY TEST DAYS 2021 and published on www.ifoy.org. All participants made rapid antigen tests. To give foreign intralogistics experts who could not travel due to the corona pandemic the chance to give an insight into the IFOY TEST DAYS, the IFOY AWARD organisation developed a digital concept consisting of live streamings and short videos about the nominees. They were put on the IFOY AWARD social media channels.

Neither the participants of TEST CAMP Intralogistics nor the nominees will find out who has won an IFOY AWARD during the IFOY TEST DAYS. They will have to wait until the IFOY AWARD Night. The date will be announced in due course.

IFOY AWARD
Finalists 2021 at a glance

arculus
arculus Fleet
arculee2

Cargotec Engineering Ireland
MOFFETT E4-25.3NX

HAI ROBOTICS
Warehouse Solution based on the HAIPICK A42N
HAIPICK A42T

Hänel
MSC Technologies Project

H+E Product Development
HUSKi

HHLA Sky
Integrated Drone Control Center

idealworks
iw.hub

Interroll Group
Small Pallet Mover (SPM)

NIMMSTA
HS 50

OPPIDUM TIC
LOGISTICS INTERCHAT

STILL
Danfoss Project
EXH-S 25

SYNAOS
SNYA.OS Logistics

VOLUME storage systems
Volume WAVE

WAKU Robotics
WAKU Sense

IFOY AWARD http://WWW.IFOY.ORG
The International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY AWARD) recognises the year’s best intralogistics products and system solutions. The aim of the organisation is to document the performance capability and innovative drive of the intralogistics, helping to boost competitiveness and raise the profile of the entire sector in the public arena. The winners of the IFOY AWARD are selected once a year by an independent jury of international trade journalists. The sponsor of the IFOY AWARD is the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Sector Association. IFOY partners are Messe Dortmund and the world´s leading forklift attachment manufacturer Cascade. The IFOY pallet partner is CHEP, the global market leader in pallet pooling. Logistics real estate partner is GARBE, Trailer partner is Kögel and logistics partner is LTG.

The headquarters of the IFOY organisation are in Ismaning near Munich. The IFOY AWARD is under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Members of the jury: Snejina Badjeva, editor-in-chief Logistika magazine (Bulgaria), Winfried Bauer, editor-in-chief f+h Fördertechnik (Germany), Cecilia Biondi, editor-in-chief Logistica Management (Italy), Charleen Clarke, editor-in-chief Focus on Transport and Logistics (South Africa), Theo Egberts, IFOY tester and owner of Buro Andersom / Andersom Testing (Netherlands, without voting rights), Reji John, editor The STAT Trade Times & The Indian Transport and Logistics News & Logistics Update Africa (India), Klaus Koch, editor-in-chief LogisticsInnovation.org, Handel Heute (Switzerland), Allan Leibowitz, editor-in-chief forkliftaction.com (Australia), Valeria Lima de Azevedo Nammur, editor-in-chief LogWeb Magazine (Brazil), Øyvind Ludt, editor-in-chief Moderne Transport (Norway), Bernd Maienschein, editor-in-chief MM Logistik (Germany), Marilena Matei, editorial director Tranzit / Tranzit Logistica (Romania), Anton Mizunov, editor-in-chief Skladskoj complex (Russia), Maurizio Peruzzi, editor-in-chief Il Giornale della Logistica (Italy), Matthias Pieringer, editor-in-chief Logistik Heute (Germany), Szilvia Rapi Jaubert, publisher and editor-in-chief Supply Chain Monitor (Hungary), Matthias Rathmann, editor-in-chief trans aktuell (Germany), Isabel Rodrigo, editor-in-chief Logística Profesional (Spain), Hans- Joachim Schlobach, publisher and editor-in-chief Business+Logistic (Austria), Sascha Schmel, managing director association materials handling and intralogistics in the VDMA (Germany, without voting rights), Sebastian Śliwieński, editorin- chief Warehouse Monitor (Poland), Jarlath Sweeney, editor-in-chief Fleet transport (Ireland), Mats Udikas, representative Transportnytt (Sweden), Ying Xu, editor-in-chief MM Logistics in China (China). The executive chairperson of the jury is Anita Wuermser, logistics journalist and managing partner of impact media projects.