TAMPA, Fla. -- Forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment will be previewing three soon-to-be launched products at this week's 2010 International Foodservice Distributors (IFDA) conference.
Included in the preview will be the Crown RM 6000 reach truck, the Crown QuickPick Remote Advance System and the next generation of the Crown InfoLink 3.0 fleet management system. The products are expected to be available to the market in the coming months, according to Crown officials.
 
Of note is the Crown RM 6000, which officials are touting as the industry's first-ever monolift reach truck, with a reach capability of 505 inches and the ability lift loads up to 1,000 lbs heavier than any conventional reach truck.
 
"Crown Equipment revolutionized the reach truck market with the sit, lean, stand design in 1997. We've done it again with the Crown RM 6000 monolift reach truck by giving customers greater capacity at higher heights than any pantograph reach truck currently available in the market," said Matt Logan, director of marketing for Crown Equipment. "This product solves the efficiency challenge within high-density warehouses that forces operators to travel farther to find open slots versus lifting higher. It also enables significant reductions in warehouse construction costs. We've calculated potential capital savings of about $2.6 million on a 250,000-sq-ft freezer warehouse by building up and not out."

Attendees at IFDA are also getting a glimpse of the Crown QuickPick Remote Advance System, which is a wireless glove that allows operators to remotely control the forklift. Officials say the system is designed to help increase productivity. For example, in high-volume picking applications, the operator can advance a forklift to the next pick slot using controls integrated into the glove while remaining in the optimum position for picking, according to officials. The system will be first available with the Crown PC 4500 Series of rider pallet trucks.

"Crown has always been and will continue to be a champion for customer productivity," Logan noted. "We believe that there is significant opportunity for our customers to leverage new task automating technologies that heighten the performance of their operators and forklift fleet. The technology we're showing today for the first time has the potential to redefine the way case pickers do their job."

The third and final product being showcased at the event is the next generation of InfoLink, Crown's forklift fleet management system. The new version of InfoLink is designed to bring managers and operators heightened access to actionable information from the forklift as well as enhanced dashboard functionality for at-a-glance fleet and individual truck performance. The operator interface will be displayed at IFDA through vehicle-mounted computers (commonly known as VMCs) that are compatible with various Windows-based operating systems.

"The challenges faced by today's warehouses and distribution centers can only be met with a new generation of equipment and technology that delivers greater control, speed and productivity," Logan said. "We are committed to bringing that equipment and technology to market and look forward to unveiling these products soon."