Welcome to the future

Doosan has developed the Intelligent Concept Forklift. This points the way forward for a brave new world of forklifts, UK sales manager Paul Watson explains.

The Intelligent Concept Forklift (CF) has been designed to provide the utmost standards in efficiency, safety and environmental impact.We have no immediate plans to introduce the truck to warehouses but it is aimed to propel Doosan forward as a leader in the forklift industry.

The truck has been created by our award winning technologists at the Doosan Institute of Technology Industrial Design Centre, which has the experience of creating the concept Construction Equipment models the CX and CL. The CF is intended to be a blend of radical design technology, while maintaining Doosan's core belief of simple, powerful products with great performance.

Augmented reality Alongside the Doosan's expertise in OLED technology, the CF also shows how augmented reality systems may eventually be incorporated into a heads up display. A 'work guide system' enables operators to see information about their cargo and interpret the best work process they should apply to it, helping to maximise productivity and targets. An extendable counterweight also improves stability and increases loading capacity, while maintaining the minimum turning radius.

Being electrically powered, the CF is also designed to reduce emissions, excess noise and fuel costs, and we are confident it will meet future international environmental standards. The rechargeable battery enables faster recharging, providing an increased work time and productivity.

It is not innovation for the sake of it, however, the design team has been at pains to ensure that enhancements are practical and pragmatic. The company seeks to build in new technology with proven components, and this will shape and secure Doosan's future in the industry.

I think that the company that is the most successful is the one that is prepared to use durable technology when needed and innovate whenever possible. And this is really where Doosan construction benefited massively from the design of the CX concept excavator, where it won the Reddot design award 2009.

The same theme went into the design of the CF, and hopefully we will see it reap the same benefits.

Print your own parts The truck also has tilting seats, hub drive motors and solar reacting glass.Will these technologies really find their way into the forklifts of the future? If the market dictates it. Take foldable forks. The technology and engineering capability are already with us, as are cameras and sensors mounted on forks and masts. Like all features, we need to demonstrate the need and the benefits to prove the changes are worthwhile.

Rapid prototyping, or 3D printing, may also prove an important element to the forklift supplier of the future.With the technology already available to reproduce a model of the human heart by effectively 'printing it', the need to carry expensive parts holdings or even rarely used parts, may become less important.

New technologies can free up the design process, as well as offer exciting new avenues that can be applied to existing products. The true arbiter will be the end user. If they want the technology, it will no doubt come to pass.

As an exciting glimpse of what the future holds for forklifts, and to see how Doosan are working towards opening up a multitude of new technologies for its customers, the CF will undoubtedly make other manufacturers take note.

Even though we won't be seeing the ICF in warehouses for some time yet, there may be some elements that we will hopefully be able to incorporate into our next series of products.We certainly do not rule out providing new and more efficient ways of providing value for money products that make the operator and the owner's life less complicated through technology.