Innovation Award winners announced at Modex Industry Night

Products from Intelligrated, Fetch Robotics and RAM Mounts received Innovation Awards during the Industry Night celebration at Modex on Wednesday.

The recipients of the 4th annual MHI Innovation Awards were among 95 total applicants narrowed to 12 finalists in three categories: Best New Innovation, Best Innovation of an Existing Product and – new this year – Best IT Innovation.

Intelligrated won Best Innovation of an Existing Product for its Intellisort cross-belt sorter with dynamic discharge compensation, which uses an algorithm and vision system to determine the most accurate discharge trajectory based upon the product’s location on the belt, its dimensions, and chute location. Enabling precision discharge, the solution minimizes manual touches, improves sortation accuracy to 99.99% and cuts energy consumption by 50%.

Fetch Robotics won the Best New Innovation award for Follow Pick, which features a robot that autonomously follows an employee through a warehouse while they fill an order. As one robot carries a bin with complete order to the packing and shipping area, a second is ready and waiting for the picker to begin the next order. A web-based front-end allows managers to get real-time information on the location and status of robots, inventory and orders.

IntelliSkin and GDS Technology from RAM Mounts won the award for best IT innovation. The protective device case features an integrated power connector compatible with any GDS charging dock, preventing damage to charging ports and creating a universal docking platform for consumer smartphones and tablets in rugged applications.

Prior to the show, the submissions were judged by a committee of industry experts to narrow down each category to four finalists. On Monday, the judging panel visited finalists’ exhibits in person before selecting winners in each category.

Finalists in the Best New Innovation category:
• Balyo – Self-Guided Truck
• Fetch Robotics – Robot & Follow Pick
• Iam Robotics – Swift-Autonomous Picking
• UNEX Manufacturing – Pick Plank

Finalists in the “Best Innovation of an Existing Product” category are:
• CubiScan Cubing & Weighing Systems – CubiScan 75
• Intelligrated – Intellisort Cross-Belt – Dynamic Discharge Compensation
• Intralox – ARB Sorter S7000
• Joloda International – Trailerskate 2.0

Finalists in the “Best IT Innovation” category are:
• Emulate3D – Emulate3D software
• RAM Mounting Systems – IntelliSkin & GDS Technology
• SOTI – MobiControl
• Warehouse Mobile Solutions – Warehouse OS

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.