Supply chain association names forklift technology a finalist for new product innovation award – Purdue News Service
Quarion Technology, a Purdue University-affiliated company, created a remote tracking and control safety system for forklifts operating in loading dock areas. (Stock image) Download imageWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Material Handling Institute, the nation’s largest material handling, logistics and supply chain association, has named Purdue University-affiliated Quarion Technology’s DokSAFE as a finalist for its Best New Product category of the 2020 MHI Innovation Awards.
Quarion Technology is an industrial Internet of Things company dedicated to helping warehouse, distribution center and factory managers achieve higher levels of productivity while improving overall employee safety. DokSAFE is a remote tracking and control safety system for forklifts operating in loading dock areas.
“We take safety a step further by adding control technology that goes beyond warning sirens,” said Aric Pryor, a Purdue College of Engineering alum who started Quarion in 2015. “We dramatically change the options available for loading dock operators who previously only had lights, sirens and physical barriers to prevent accidents.”
DokSAFE uses real-time information about the location and direction of the forklift, as well as monitoring the status of the trailer restraint system, to transmit a stop signal to disable the forklift before it enters an unrestrained trailer at the loading dock.
The DokSAFE team and other finalists for the award will make an in-booth presentation to a panel of judges during the MODEX 2020 trade show next week in Atlanta.
Pryor received entrepreneurial guidance from the Purdue Foundry, WestGate, whose professionals help Purdue and regional innovators create startups. The Purdue Foundry, WestGate, manages the WestGate Academy at the WestGate@Crane Technology Park. Purdue Foundry, West Lafayette, is housed in the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Purdue’s Discovery Park District.
About Purdue Research Foundation
The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue’s intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.
Writer: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org
Source: Aric Pryor, aric.pryor@quariontechnology.com
