Crown Equipment Corporation has unveiled two new components within its growing automation solutions portfolio that is designed to help customers increase throughput capacities, optimize existing facilities to meet changing market conditions and mitigate business disruptions.

Crown’s new Auto Positioning System enables a forklift to take the most effective route to the next rack location. When a pick location is entered manually or shared through a linked warehouse management system (WMS), the Auto Positioning System controls the truck’s blend of lift and travel to optimize the time required to reach and automatically stop at the rack location. Implementations demonstrated that customers stand to gain up to 25 percent improvement in productivity compared to the operator manually driving down the aisle to the pick location and lifting the forks to the required height.

Secondly, Crown’s new Auto Fence operator-assist technology promotes safety and helps reduce the risk of product, truck and facility damage. This is accomplished by using RFID tags to set up speed or height zones in very narrow aisles, automatically slowing travel speed, stopping or limiting truck height based on the location of the truck.

“Each of these technologies stands to help our customers realize several desired outcomes ranging from improved productivity and enhanced operator safety to optimized facility layouts and reduced damage to racks and products,” said Jim Gaskell, director of global technology business development, Crown Equipment Corporation. “Because the technology is integrated into the forklift – as opposed to a bolt-on approach – customers gain a truly scalable and flexible solution equipped to solve current challenges while positioning their investment to pay dividends well into the future regardless of how it uniquely manifests itself within their company.”

The Crown TSP Series turret truck, which is the forklift where the Auto Positioning System and Auto Fence are first available.

The Auto Positioning System and Auto Fence are first available with new Crown TSP Series turret trucks or as a retrofit option for Crown TSP Series trucks in the field. The Crown TSP Series delivers advanced features to enhance operator comfort, ergonomics and productivity. It’s fully adjustable MoveControl Seat features integrated controls on the cushioned armrest and can be positioned at various degrees to allow the operator to choose the optimum position for each task. The versatile man-up truck is built to maneuver high, tight spaces with more control, while improving productivity with faster cycle speeds and more efficient energy utilization.