Under the slogan Making Intralogistics Smart Together, STILL brought a large number of European customers and trade press to Hamburg this autumn. In the STILL Arena, the manufacturer gave its vision of the near future. True to STILL tradition, the message was also wrapped up in a tasty show.
STILL explained its vision through five themes: Energy, Products, Automation, Services and Circularity. Products included the spotlight on the compact successor to the RX50, the RXE 10-16C three-wheeler. However, STILL placed most emphasis on the decision to bring the Classic line of trucks in addition to the RXE Xcellence line. Classic trucks that are perfectly adequate for light to moderately intensive use. They are simpler in design and therefore up to about 30% more favorable in price.
We see this C strategy in warehouse and forklift trucks, but also within automation and energy concepts, two of the other themes. In automation, STILL distinguishes between Green and Brown Field projects. In Green Field projects where optimization is easier from the start, horizontal transport solutions are perfectly possible with an ACH AMR. In Brown Field projects, already existing situations, a much more intelligent automation is necessary and that is where the self-learning AXH is deployed.
At Energy, perhaps the most fascinating topic in Hamburg, STILL showed its own fuel cell. It will be on the market from next year for the 24V warehouse trucks. Per tank load of hydrogen, the truck will run for eight hours. The fuel cell provides a continuous power supply to the 3 kW li-ion battery, as it is necessary for energy peak during acceleration and regenerative braking.
Fuel technology is going to play a big role, STILL predicts, but until then, the manufacturer is betting heavily on lithium-ion batteries. Here, too, they distinguish between Xcellence and Classic batteries. The Classic li-ion batteries contain cell technology that has less demanding charging speed and temperature ranges than the Xcellence line. The truck use is less intensive and thus the price can be up to 30% lower. Very interesting to switch to li-ion technology.
Whether it is X- or C-line or even lead-acid batteries, peak charging loads should be avoided because they determine the cost structure of the energy contract. This is why STILL developed Smart chargers that communicate with each other via the Smart Energy System to best coordinate and distribute the necessary charging energy.
Smart is also seen in Services, where STILL can now include other brands in its NeXXt Fleet Management system. With this, customers with large, mixed fleets are better relieved and can be given better advice on optimization from a central overview position.
Finally, circularity was explained via the concept study of the newly developed RXE 20 forklift. That strategy is based on avoiding waste and recycling raw materials in all areas related to the production, deployment and recycling of a STILL product. The CO2 savings planned in the study are promising: 15% in the supply chain, 50% in production and 25% in operation.
With these five interesting themes it is clear that Making Intralogistics Smart Together will be continued by STILL in the coming months and years.
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