Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world’s leading lift truck manufacturers, has again garnered recognition for superior product design. The company today announced that BusinessWeek magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) recently presented the Crown GPC 3000 Series order picker with an International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) at the Gold level.

“We’re proud to be recognized by BusinessWeek and IDSA for the GPC 3000’s strong functional design,” said Mike Gallagher, vice president of Crown’s Design Center. “It’s very gratifying that, like our customers, IDSA recognized the value in this truck’s ability to accommodate users’ needs and simplify processes both on and off the truck.”

The Crown GPC 3000 Series is available in Latin America, Europe, China and Australasia. It is used primarily in order picking applications, which require operators to interact with the truck while working in warehouse aisles. Crown’s designers developed features that improve productivity during these off-truck tasks. An open, no-trip operator floorboard allows users to move quickly from one side of the truck to the other to pick items located on both sides of an aisle. Fold-down steps provide a faster, safer method of picking items stored on the second rack level, and can double the number of pick locations an operator can easily reach.

IDSA jurors took note of the Crown GPC 3000’s user-centered design. They also commended the product’s innovative nature and strong aesthetic appeal.

“A clear understanding of user process and exceedingly crisp design brought strong innovation to an existing product typology,” said Joyce Bromberg, an IDSA juror and director of WorkSpace Futures (Research) at Steelcase Inc.

“Crown has consistently demonstrated innovation for the targeted end user and a modern and well defined aesthetic for their visual brand language,” added juror Stephen Melamed, a principal at Tres Design Group.

The GPC 3000 is one of just 31 Gold IDEA winners selected from a pool of more than 1,600 applicants. This is Crown’s fourth IDEA win in as many years, and one of more than a dozen the company has been awarded in recent decades.

The IDEA is the Crown GPC 3000’s second design award. Earlier this year it received a

GOOD DESIGN™ Award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.

About IDEA & IDSA

The IDEA program fosters business and public understanding about the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. IDSA is the voice of industrial design, committed to advancing the profession through education, information, community and advocacy.

About Crown Equipment Corporation

Crown is the number one brand of electric lift trucks in the United States and the seventh largest lift truck manufacturer in the world. Crown’s award-winning line of lift trucks has earned a reputation for exceptional product design, engineering and manufacturing. From the smallest hand pallet truck to the highest lifting turret truck, Crown seeks to provide users with safe, efficient and ergonomic lift trucks that lower total cost of ownership and maximize uptime. Headquartered in New Bremen, Ohio, Crown manufactures lift trucks that are sold throughout the world.