INNOVATION PIONEER: CROWN ESR 1000 REACH TRUCK WINS IFOY AWARD
The Crown ESR 1000 Series won the IFOY Award 2020 (International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year) on the back of multiple innovations for boosting productivity, connectivity and operator safety. These include Crown’s Gena operating system and Xpress Lower mast-lowering technology.
The independent jury of internationally respected trade journalists praised the high level of customer benefits offered by the ESR 1000 Series.
“Decisive factors for the jury’s decision were the innovations in the areas of sustainability, ergonomics and safety, which are consistently geared towards high customer benefit, as well as the performance values of the truck. Particularly outstanding are the Xpress Lower technology, which can double the lowering speed, and the energy-saving regenerative lowering,” says Anita Würmser, executive chairperson of the IFOY Award Jury.
Ken Dufford, vice president Europe at Crown, explains what this means to the company: “For me, and especially for Crown’s engineers, it’s an enormous honour to be presented with our fourth IFOY Award for forklift technology. This award acknowledges that our work produces valuable resources for our customers and our industry in general. Going beyond traditional product development to create advanced solutions that deliver genuine added value is an integral part of Crown’s DNA. We build rugged, durable, reliable forklift trucks, but we also develop trendsetting solutions that supplement forklifts and complement operator skills. Our development strategy has always prioritised productivity, safety of operators and ergonomics.”
ESR 1000 Series: smart, efficient and reliable – for real performance
The ESR 1000 Series offers innovative technology paired with intelligently connected features in the Gena operating system that provide operators a data-rich user experience and which enable them to work precisely and effectively at any height without compromising productivity.
Operators and warehouse managers, as well as service and safety managers, all benefit from the Gena operating system making its debut in the ESR 1000 Series. The Gena system is intuitive, customisable and interactive, offering an engaging operator experience. A 7-inch colour touchscreen allows the operator to choose from 25 languages and from a growing range of widgets displaying key forklift functions such as operating time, steering angle, speed and battery charge. The Gena operating system optimises the forklift’s performance ¬and makes crucial information easy to see, understand and use, helping operators to boost their productivity.
Another ESR 1000 innovation is the Xpress Lower technology, which is capable of doubling the truck’s mast-lowering speed to 1.1 m/s. This speed is unique in the market, enabling up to 21% more productivity overall. Far from consuming extra energy, the mast-lowering function feeds the energy released during the lowering process back into the battery. In combination with the ESR 1000’s regenerative braking system, this can result in energy savings of up to 11%. Crown has a flexible response to the various energy sources currently available on the market. Like all Crown lift trucks, the ESR 1000 Series is available with lithium-ion power, but with the help of our service technicians it can also be switched over to lead-acid batteries at any time to match the energy profile of specific applications.
The ‘Auto Height Select’ feature enhances precision. Operators can use this automatic, predefined height selector to stop the forks at programmed rack heights or by using the one touch button to stop the forks at the next programmed height. This precise, automated positioning helps to avoid product, rack and truck damage while simultaneously improving throughput. As the forks rise, the truck’s colour display shows their current shelf height, alerting the operator as soon as the forks reach the programmed target height. Programming different rack heights for multiple warehouse zones is straightforward by utilising the remote navigation knob used in conjunction with the Gena display.
The ‘Capacity Data Monitor’ is an equally useful feature, giving operators an at-a-glance view of load weight, lift height and residual capacity so they can ensure that load handling stays within safe limits.
Prizewinning performance
The IFOY Award is one of the world’s most prestigious international awards for logistics and material handling solutions. This is the fourth time that Crown has won the coveted award: Crown’s previous IFOY Award winners include the company’s wireless InfoLink fleet management system (in 2013), QuickPick Remote order-picking technology (in 2014) and the RT 4000 Series of ride-on pallet trucks (in 2016).
To learn more about Crown’s ideas for helping customers advance the productivity of their operations, visit crown.com.