Crown Equipment Previews Three New Products at 2010 IFDA Conference


New Reach Truck, Picking Technology and Fleet Management Introductions Planned for 2011

TAMPA, Fla. - Attendees at this week's 2010 International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) conference are receiving a sneak peek of three soon-to-be launched products from Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world's leading forklift manufacturers. The company is previewing the Crown RM 6000 reach truck, the Crown QuickPick(TM) Remote Advance System and the next generation of the Crown InfoLink® 3.0 fleet management system. Each represents a significant advance in the way forklifts are used throughout a warehouse. The products are expected to be available to the market in the coming months.

The Crown RM 6000 will be the industry's first-ever monolift reach truck. It will reach 505 inches and can lift loads up to 1,000 pounds heavier than any conventional reach truck. Among many other benefits, these features enable customers to optimize warehouse space by filling vacant shelves at the top of their racks.

"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, 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-square-foot 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 to achieve significant leaps in 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. 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."

A focus on operator productivity and asset utilization is also evident through the next generation of InfoLink, Crown's forklift fleet management system. The new version of InfoLink will 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 concluded. "We are committed to bringing that equipment and technology to market and look forward to unveiling these products soon."

About Crown Equipment Corporation

Crown is one of the world's largest lift truck manufacturers. Crown's award-winning line of lift trucks maintains 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. For more information, visit www.crown.com.

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