Crown, a large material handling companies, recently gained its fourth award for the GPC 3000 order picker with QuickPick Remote by winning its 14th GOOD DESIGN Award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Honouring the remote glove technology for order picking, the award programme’s jury recognised Crown for its dedication to design that challenges traditional thinking. Crown’s approach to design focuses on ideas for improving lift truck operator productivity and safety, based on a thorough understanding of the operator-forklift relationship.
In developing the Crown GPC order picker series, the company leveraged research showing that operator time spent off the forklift can be as much as 90% of the picking cycle. To help reduce fatigue and improve productivity, Crown designed its GPC order picker with QuickPick Remote technology to advance to the next picking location with the touch of a button on the glove-mounted wireless remote, removing the need for operators to climb repeatedly on and off the truck’s platform and keeping their hands free for actual order picking. Long-term tests by Crown customers found that overall productivity improved by an average of 10%, with some companies reporting up to a 25% improvement.
During the test week for the International Forklift of the Year Award 2014, the Dutch independent journalist Theo Egberts, owner of Buro Andersom and Andersom Testing, extensively evaluated Crown’s QuickPick Remote system.
“According to Crown, the QuickPick Remote system not only improves productivity – it also improves the well-being of order pickers. Our test proved they weren’t exaggerating,” said Egberts. “The benefits of this intuitive system multiply in direct proportion to the intensity of the order-picking process. The Auto Steer Correction feature plays an important role by enabling continuous, trouble-free order picking. The cleverly-devised glove control system is the key to this successful solution.”
“We’re honoured to be recognised with a GOOD DESIGN award for 2014,” said Jim Kraimer, Crown’s director of design. “We constantly strive to develop customer-centric equipment and material handling technologies that improve safety and comfort for operators, as well as heighten productivity and efficiency within the entire operation. As the material handling industry evolves and incorporates new technologies, we will continue our efforts to help ensure forklift operators are safe, comfortable and productive with each shift.”
Crown’s forklifts and material handling technologies have earned more than 80 awards from design associations and institutions since 1965.
Founded in Chicago in 1950, GOOD DESIGN remains the oldest and most recognised programme for design excellence worldwide. In 2014, the Museum received submissions from thousands of the world’s leading manufacturers and industrial and graphic design firms from more than 48 countries.
