Picking a winner
October 1st 2011 The FLTA Awards have prospered while others have fallen by the wayside.
David Ellison, chief executive of the FLTA, explains why.
Now in its eighteenth year, the FLTA Annual Awards for
Excellence is an enduring beacon of excellence. As an
annual, independent review of our industry it
encourages – and rewards – genuine quality and ingenuity from
the whole of the fork lift truck sector… and beyond.
Surprisingly, perhaps, it isn't the event itself, nor even the
winner's iconic Archie that makes these awards so special. The
success of this annual event lies in the quality of the finalists –
the Pick of the Year – a shortlist that provides an invaluable guide
to what's new and what's best in this industry.
That much awaited list will be revealed in full in next month's
HSS magazine and will embrace many of the criteria that
influence today's buyers when making their purchasing decisions,
including Safety, Ergonomics, Innovation and the Environment.
With nominations now closed, the task of finalising the Pick of
the Year falls to a small but highly experienced team of fork lift
professionals, each with his own specialism. Drawing upon an
almost encyclopaedic knowledge of the industry, the committee
is charged with weeding out those nominations that fail to meet
the necessary standards. Each year their task becomes harder as
the number of entries continues to grow and truck designers
display ever greater ingenuity.
Having established that shortlist, the task of selecting the
overall winner in each category falls to the readers of this
magazine along with other end users who cast their votes during
the month of December.Who wins? You decide!
Undoubtedly, though, one of the greatest strengths of the
Annual Awards for Excellence is the rich diversity of the finalists:
not only in terms of the product or service but the nature of the
companies involved. Each year, winners emerge from the entire
spectrum of the materials handling sector: from embryonic startups
to internationally recognised household names. Recent
winning products include everything from a system to reduce
mast sway on a high level order picker to a near-silent powered
pallet truck developed specifically for use in cities… from
wireless weighing forks to a laser guided reach truck!
Importantly, that diversity has been further enhanced as the
scope of the Awards has been extended ever further, most notably
to embrace those who actually own and operate fork lift trucks.
The resulting Safe Site Award focuses
on those locations where managers,
supervisors, drivers and
pedestrians have combined forces
to demonstrably raise standards of safety. If you
believe your site falls into that category, you may
still be in time to post your entry. Nomination forms can be
found on the FLTA website at: www.fork-truck.org.uk/awardsenter.
As a reader of this excellent publication, you are every bit as
important as the finalists and sponsors.You have the opportunity
to play a vital role in determining which individuals, companies
and products will carry off the ultimate prize: an Archie.
Intriguingly, when it comes to the result of the vote, there are no
foregone conclusions. This is one occasion where size really
doesn't matter. Each of the finalists has an equal chance of
winning if you, as a voter, believe they deserve it. The winners of
the 2012 Awards – being held in association with HSS magazine
– will be announced at an Oscars-style ceremony at the Hilton
Metropole Hotel on Saturday
18 2012. More articles from The Fork Lift Truck Association: | 
