ProMat 2019 has officially wrapped. Over 45,000 manufacturing and supply chain professionals were in attendance for the industry’s largest conference, held April 8-11th at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center.
This year’s theme was “Find Your Wow,” focusing on the latest innovations in material handling technology, warehouse automation, and robotics. With over 1,000 exhibitors, 100+ seminars, and hands-on demonstrations, there was a lot to see and do at the event. In this post, we’re recapping just a few of the highlights from this incredible event.
ProMat 2019 Highlights:
Toyota 3-Wheel Hydrogen Fuel Cell Forklift
Toyota introduced an all-new piece of material handling equipment at the conference, a 3-wheel hydrogen fuel cell forklift that will go into production later this year. This option is a great zero carbon emissions alternative to traditional internal combustion forklifts.
Karim Lakhani’s’s Opening Keynote Panel Session
In his keynote, Karim Lakhani, a professor at Harvard Business School and the session’s panelists, representatives from Cargill, Everledge, and Intel, highlighted how companies are currently using blockchain technology today and discussed the potential it has for the industry.
MHI Innovation Award Winners Announced
The winners of the MHI Innovation Awards were announced at ProMat 2019 Industry Night. Pick2Pack from CMC srl won in the Best New Product category. RightHand Robotics won Best Innovation of an Existing Product for their updates to their product, RightPick. For the Best IT Innovation category, KNAPP won with redPilot.
Forklift to Robots Seminar
Richard Cole of Bastian Solutions, Troy Donnelly, and Alan Dotts of Toyota Material Handling covered the strategies for identifying if your business could benefit from automation. They provided practical how-tos for evaluating technology solutions, from palletizing robots to the latest automated guided vehicles (AGVs) capable of stacking and storing pallets.
Contact Us for more information on ProMat2019 and Toyota’s exciting products and programs.
Tags: automation