STILL GmbH is the leading supplier of intelligent management of intralogistics. Intralogistics is a complex network of products, processes and services related to the internal flow of material and information. The company offers solutions that are tailored to the individual needs of clients. “With our PartnerPlan clients can combine the whole portfolio of STILL products, technology and services flexibly and according to their wishes,” says Mr. Radloff, Managing Director of STILL’s new subsidiary in Romania. STILL was established in 1920 by a man named Hans Still. As well as the repair of electric motors, the company also developed its own products right from the beginning. The Matador lighting station was the first, soon followed by small portable generators. STILL started out with only two employees; today the company employs over 6000 people worldwide. The product range has also been steadily expanded and now includes a variety of high grade industrial trucks with electric, diesel and LP gas drives and warehouse handling equipment. Among the most popular products are STILL’s electric forklift trucks, which are no. 1 wherever noise reduction and freedom from exhaust gas pollution are priorities. They are also highly reliable, tough and very economical. Robust, powerful traction batteries with a high storage capacity and long service life provide ample energy for an eight hour shift. In addition, the electric trucks from STILL offer a high level of working safety, comfort and functionality. STILL also offers its best trucks in used condition. A Europe-wide system for second-hand forklift trucks and warehouse handling equipment guarantees a simple and reliable valuation. STILL is active on an international scale with its four production plants, 18 dealerships in Germany, 19 subsidiary companies abroad, plus a worldwide dealer network. Earlier this year STILL opened a subsidiary in Romania. Since the accession of Romania to the EU in 2007 the country at Europe’s eastern border is considered an upcoming economic region mainly due to its development in the industrial sector. The interest in intralogistics has consequently been growing continuously for years. Reason enough for STILL to boost its engagement in Romania. Since 1 June 2008 STILL is present in Romania with its subsidiary STILL MOTOSTIVUITOARE S.R.L. offering its customers the best possible attendance, the full product range and the complete service directly. To ensure this, 36 members of the initial start up team of 50 people will work in service. They will not only work in the headquarters in Bucharest but also in six additional sales points and 15 service points to meet the customers’ wishes and expectations. Mr. Radloff is the Managing Director of the new subsidiary. He has been with STILL since 1990, and has been working in international positions for years. After posts as manager of the STILL subsidiaries in Poland and Hungary Mr. Radloff worked in Ljubljana from where he directed the subsidiaries in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia. “I don’t speak Romanian yet, but I’m determined to learn,” he says. “In my former positions abroad I always made the effort to learn the local language. That’s key to understanding a country and its culture and doing business.” Besides its products, STILL provides a range of intralogistic solutions. Intralogistics is a complex network of products, processes and services related to the internal flow of material and information. Because the specific conditions found in the different companies and industries are just too diverse, it is impossible to offer a standardised solution that meets the individual demands of every company. Mr. Radloff: “That is why we have developed the PartnerPlan, which allows clients to combine the whole portfolio of STILL products, technology and services flexibly and according to their wishes, starting with the selection of the right truck and the optimum service and financing models up to the implementation of complete solutions (guiding systems, automation) from one source.” Any internal flow of material taking place between logistic nodes needs to be controlled and interlinked. It is not just the products that are moved, but also the related data. For these complex tasks STILL develops solutions that are specific to each industry. This creates a comprehensive offer of services with many individual modules that can be combined for maximum efficiency. What STILL is offering is unique in this form and the solution is tailor-made – whether clients are looking for innovative, high performing software and cost efficient warehouse trucks for an existing warehouse or whether they want to redesign the complete intralogistic flow of material and information. STILL develops the optimum solution in partnership with the clients. STILL’s warehouse management system MMS.i handles goods received, goods dispatched and everything in-between. The system offers optimum control of all goods and the respective data along the whole intralogistic chain. Beside a warehouse management system and a truck and transport control system MMS.i features numerous additional functions to analyse, control and optimise the flow of material. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a method to read and save data without physical or optical contact. STILL uses this technology in a sophisticated manner. STILL’s ‘intelligent’ truck can read information from the passive transponders (installed at defined spaces in the floor) and use the results to optimise operational processes. Use of the RFID Locator allows tracing the position of the goods indirectly by tracing the position of the truck and the locations of stacking and destacking. The double sensors of the RFID Locator on the mast automatically detect storage slots. In this way the technology complements other STILL tools such as MMS.i by feeding additional information to the superior management system by wireless WLAN. The RFID Safety is a driver assistance system triggering certain functions of the truck when passing over specific transponders, for example reducing the driving speed at dangerous spots such as crossings or narrow passages. The drive direction monitor can also lock restricted areas or monitor traffic in one-way lanes. Further safety equipment such as lights can be controlled. STILL is strongly engaged in the protection of the environment, for example, as an active member of the environmental partnership of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Due to the ongoing discussion on climate change and the expected stricter government regulations on carbon dioxide emissions, clean power is of growing importance for intralogistics. Against this background there is an increasing interest in alternative drives such as generating electric power by fuel cells. STILL has recognised these chances early and has already gathered a lot of experience in various projects. In 2003 the company participated in a project of the work group ARGEMUC at the airport in Munich in which an R60 electric fork lift truck was fitted with a fuel cell. Since the end of 2006 the airport Hamburg operates two fuel cell driven R 07-25 tractors by STILL to move baggage. In the long run the airport intends to replace the whole fleet (currently driven by internal combustion engines) and reduce exhaust emissions at the same time. At BASF Coatings, one of the world’s leading companies in the paint industry, two vehicles with future oriented drives will take up industrial operation: a STILL FM-X 20 reach truck and an R 60 electric lift truck. All STILL systems consist of the pack of fuel cells, an electric intermediate energy storage storing the energy when braking, and feeding it back when accelerating, the gas tanks for the hydrogen (filled with a pressure of 350 bar and a content of 2.5 kilogram of STILL GmbH Berzeliusstraße 10 D-22113 Hamburg Germany Phone: +49 (01804) 7 84 55 33 Website: www.still.de hydrogen), a radiator, a compressor and an extra weight compensating the missing weight of the battery. Based on the unique experiences with fuel cell technology and the aspect of protecting the environment, the company will consistently and intensively follow this line of development. top - home