MHI honors original products, solutions with annual Innovation Awards

On Wednesday, during MHI Industry Night with Craig Ferguson, the winners of the annual MHI Innovation Awards will be announced. That gives ProMat attendees plenty of time to drop by the booths of the 12 finalists in the three categories—Best New Product, Best Innovation of an Existing Product and Best IT Innovation—to check out the entries beforehand.

“We received 108 total submissions spread across the three categories, and each one could have qualified as a finalist,” said Greg Baer, Director of Sales for show sponsor MHI. “Every year I am amazed by the innovative solutions our exhibitors bring to the show floor that will shape and disrupt the supply chains of today. The number one reason that attendees come to ProMat is to see new products. The Innovation Awards participants have taken a big first step in making sure that attendees are aware of their solutions.”

To narrow down each category to four finalists prior to the show, the submissions were judged by a committee of industry experts. “The volunteer judges represent six different companies: Covenant Transport; Department of National Defense, Canada; Framebridge; IKEA; PharmaLink; and Steelcase Inc.,” Baer continued.

On Monday, those finalists’ exhibits were visited in person by a separate judging panel who determined the winners in each category.

Finalists in the “Best New Product” category are:

• CMC srl (Booth S1259) – Pick2Pack
• Fetch Robotics (Booth S4841) – CartConnect
• Locus Robotics (Booth S3212) – Gamification
• OE Attachments (Booth S2495) – Forklift Safety Device

Finalists in the “Best Innovation of an Existing Product” category are:

• Artitalia Group (Booth S2491) – Versatile Nesting Cart
• ProGlove (Booth N6429) – MARK 2 Smartglove
• RightHand Robotics (Booth S2397) – RightPick: The Piece Picking Solution
• Swisslog Logistics Automation (Booth S1212) – ItemPiQ

Finalists in the “Best IT Innovation” category are:

• KNAPP (Booth S1231) – redPILOT
• LogistiVIEW (Booth S5268a) – Vision Pick and Put Wall
• Schaefer Systems (Booth S3468) – WAMAS Lighthouse
• Yard Management Solutions (Booth N6856) – Eagle Eye Yard Management Software

The contest defines innovation as a new product, product line, technology or service, new application of existing products or technology, that creates quantifiable and sustainable results in terms of return on investment (ROI), cost savings and customer satisfaction.

ProMat 2019 is scheduled to be held April 8-11 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. The tradeshow will showcase the latest manufacturing, distribution and supply chain solutions in the materials handling and logistics industry. Modern’s complete coverage of the show.