BT Optio Order Pickers From TMHE Win IF Gold Award for Product Design

Online, February 13, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The BT Optio L-series low-level order picker from Toyota Material Handling gets the highest international juries' recognition for its functionality and design

10th February, 2012 at BMW World in Munich, was a rewarding day for Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE). After having received the iF label for two of its products in 2009 - the BT Levio and the Toyota Traigo 48 - another of its forklift trucks won the most prestigious award in the product design category. This time, the gold trophy was lifted by the BT Optio L-series - order picking trucks that excel in all of the categories the judges were examining: quality design, choice of materials, safety, durability, ergonomics and low environmental impact.

Toyota and BT both share a long tradition of anticipating market trends and providing their clients with the best solutions. The BT Optio L-series is proof of TMHE's continuous striving for improvement, as well as its goal to develop material handling products and services in tandem with its customers' ever-complex needs.

BT Optio L-series was developed around a Smooth Operator concept, designed to provide the best working conditions. All order pickers feature a low step-in height and the option of a new Frequency-Adapted Suspension (FAS) system, which has been developed by TMHE. Toyota's E-man control system allows for easy and effortless driving - the steering arm is electronic and can be positioned according to driving conditions. This includes being elevated when working at second level so the order pickers can be driven from point to point without the need to return to ground level. It also allows the controls to be moved to the left- or right-hand side of the truck allowing the operator to advance the truck forward whilst walking alongside. Efficient administration is essential in order picking operations and another key part of the Smooth Operator concept. The L-series order picking trucks feature a number of storage compartments, as well as the optional Toyota E-bar, which allows easy mounting of ancillary equipment such as computer terminals and bar-code scanners.

Functional, user-friendly and comfortable in a demanding environment, the BT Optio product unites values that simplify a forklift driver's working day. To Magnus Oliveira Andersson, Head of Design Center at TMHE, who lead the BT Optio L-series design work, simplicity, robustness, driveability and sustainability are the key factors leading the way to performance. "This low-level order picker was built with the driver in focus. An evolutional design with clean and functional forms developed through years of experience. The form has a meaning and a clear message - it interprets our core values."

International Forum Design Awards (iF) has been supporting the works of talented designers since 1953 by promoting healthy competition and increasing their worldwide visibility. The BT Optio L-series will be on show at the iF Gold award exhibition at the BMW museum from 10th to 26th February, and the iF design exhibition, running at the same time as CeBIT in Hannover, as well as in Hamburg and Haikou, on Hainan island (China).