- Collaborative venture of Linde Material Handling, G. Zwiehoff and Proplan Transport- und Lagersysteme convinces the jury
- Road-rail shunting vehicles ROTRAC E2 and E4 take first place in the category Power Transmission & Fluid Technology
Linde Material Handling GmbH has won the “Industriepreis 2013” award in the category Power Transmission & Fluid Technology in recognition of its road-rail shunting vehicles ROTRAC E2 and E4. The award recognises products developed in collaboration between Linde Material Handling GmbH and G. Zwiehoff GmbH and manufactured by Linde subsidiary Proplan Transport- und Lagersysteme GmbH. ROTRAC E2 and E4 convinced the jury consisting of over 30 scientists, sector representatives, industry experts, and trade journalists with their impressive technological, economic and ecological benefits.

Maik Manthey, Vice President New Business & Products and responsible for Electronic Systems & Drives (ES&D) at Linde MH, is pleased with this recognition for ROTRAC E2 and E4: “This confirms that we are on the right track with making our long-standing engineering expertise available for external customers too.” Maik Manthey continues: “Cooperation partners from different sectors can benefit from our experience gained in the development of electronic drive and control technology. The collaborative venture with G. Zwiehoff GmbH in the development of the ROTRAC E2 and E4 is a successful example of such cooperation.” Linde Material Handling has been marketing its expertise in the development and production of electric drive technology under the “eMotion” brand since 2010 – and Zwiehoff GmbH is among its first customers.

The idea for the development of a road-rail shunting vehicle arose in 2010 during the “Bauma” construction machinery trade fair. Gerd Zwiehoff, Managing Director of G. Zwiehoff GmbH, recognized the potential of Linde drive components for his company and suggested there and then to join forces for the development of a compact, efficient and remotely controlled shunting unit. Linde subsidiary Proplan Transport- and Lagersysteme GmbH contributed its know-how from the field of special vehicle construction to the manufacturing process. Proplan Managing Director Herbert Kunkel: “All the major drive components – from the two electromechanical drive axles, the converter and the charging connection to the control system – come from Linde Material Handling’s mass production for industrial trucks, but they have been put together to form a pioneering vehicle concept. To this end, we used innovative approaches and, in addition to other patented solutions, we also developed an electronic rigid axle steering system for the ROTRAC.”

Linde Material Handling and Zwiehoff presented the ROTRAC E2 in May 2011 as a series production vehicle at the “transport logistic” trade show in Munich. Ever since then, it has been meeting with great interest in the railway sector. In addition to being deployed by Deutsche Bahn AG and Siemens Mobility, the compact shunting vehicles are now being delivered to customers around the globe, most recently to railway operators in Malaysia, Brazil, Australia and Kazakhstan. Based on correspondingly powerful industrial truck components, successor model ROTRAC E4 offers even higher performance and was introduced to an international audience at the “InnoTrans” transport technology trade show in Berlin in September 2012. The ROTRAC E4 can move twice the towable mass as the ROTRAC E2.

The “Industriepreis” was initiated by Huber Verlag für Neue Medien GmbH back in 2006 and has been bestowed annually on the best and most advanced industrial companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In a total of 14 categories, companies of all sizes can apply for the coveted prize which is highly renowned owing to the large, high-calibre jury. The awards will be presented to the winners in the various categories as well as to the overall winner at Hannover Messe 2013.