For years, there have been remarkable attempts to compensate for mast sway at greater shelf heights using electronic vibration damping. Crown, however, sticks with a passive design on the ESR 1200 with a new mast construction – and, at 1 ton in weight, delivers surprising results even at heights of over 10 meters. 

Forklift expert Martin Schmid, an experienced instructor and member of the Swiss jury for the Intralogistics and Forklift of the Year (IFOY) award, confirmed during the short test track in Hall 4 of the Dortmund trade fair, which was used for test drives, that the precise design of the mast construction has proven its worth. "Of course, there are still some fluctuations"said Schmid. "But compared to others, the vehicle is extremely stable"The visual design reflects the recent comeback efforts of the forklift manufacturer, and some even prefer the display layout in the cockpit to that of the larger, more established models from the leading global market.

The audit conducted by the university consultants, who bring a broad range of expertise to the IFOY, promotes a  "holistic development process" aimed at increasing sustainability and productivity. It builds on the technology of the ESR 1000, which has already established itself successfully in the market. The entire ESR value chain has been analyzed and improved, including the selection of local suppliers, the implementation of new manufacturing technologies, the shortening of transport routes, an increase in the recycling rate, and a reduction in material and energy consumption.

The up to 21 percent higher residual load capacities and greater lifting heights (up to 14,205 mm) also enable a new type of warehouse layout at the customer's site for even more efficient use of space. To make the masts more stable while simultaneously improving operator visibility, Crown has found a clever solution. Instead of using more material, the existing material has been used more effectively.

In addition to other product features, such as height-dependent activated linear headlights, the entire reach truck portfolio has been adapted to offer the right forklift for every application. The ESR 1240 is now also available for applications with lifting heights exceeding 9.5 m and capacities of 2 t. The downsizing approach allows for more energy-efficient operation of the forklifts; a previous 2-tonne vehicle can now be replaced by a 1.5-tonne model. The ESR 1200 series features the Gena operating system and – like the SP 1500 order picker and the TSP 1000 narrow aisle forklift – is networkable with Crown's InfoLink fleet management system.

Key innovations

• New manufacturing technologies, shorter transport routes and a higher degree of automation reduce the CO2 footprint in production.
• - Higher mast stability allowed for a reduction in material usage (sustainable and resource-saving production).
• - The new mast design enables higher residual load capacities and storage lifting heights of up to 14.20 m. This offers a good opportunity for a compact warehouse layout at the customer's site and higher utilization of existing storage space.

- Reduced mast vibrations improve control over the equipment at high lifting heights.

• - The novel center mast profile with a double-T-plus cross-section reduces the required welds and thus the thermally induced deformations.

• The intuitive Gena operating system is Crown's consistent standard for increasing productivity for reach trucks (ESR), order pickers (SP, IFOY Winner 2023) and narrow aisle trucks (TSP) and allows individually adjustable vehicle parameters.

Datasheet here

(The IFOY nominations presented here in no particular order are based on our own inspection of the devices, the test camp and the on-site audit, and do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the result of the anonymous electronic final vote of the jury before the closing gala in Baden, Austria).

K. Koch

www.ifoy.org