Welcome to the future
April 1st 2011 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. More articles from Doosan Infracore Co. Ltd: | 
