Despite efforts to make material handling procedures safer, accidents involving forklift trucks are still a cause of too many injuries and even fatalities to personnel. Incidents with trucks and their improper use can also lead to costly repairs and equipment downtime, resulting in lower productivity. At ELOKON, we develop and supply systems that improve safety for your employees who work on or around forklifts and other material handling equipment (MHE). And by making your material handling operations safer, we also improve the productivity of your forklift fleet.
Our products incorporate the latest sensor technology used in the automotive industry to enhance the safety of your workforce and your entire operation whilst maximising the efficiency of your internal forklift fleet. Our product portfolio consists mainly of proximity warning systems, mobile personnel protection devices, fleet management systems, stationary warning devices and radar based systems for speed reduction. We also offer technical health and safety consultancy services to plant manufacturers in areas related to machine safety.
ELOshield is the innovative personnel detection system from ELOKON. Anywhere where forklift trucks and personnel work in close proximity can constitute a hazard, and protecting the workforce is paramount. ELOshield is a radio-based proximity identification system that considerably enhances safety by automatically detecting when a person enters the danger area surrounding a forklift.
ELOshield can also be used to prevent collisions between forklift trucks or, with the stationary version, for monitoring danger areas such as busy intersections with high levels of internal traffic.
Individually configurable protection zones: ELOshield offers accident prevention using sophisticated warning zones. These zones can be programmed circularly, symmetrically (optional) and even as user-defined fields (optional) with a maximum range of up to 25 metres. Forklift trucks can safely pass other vehicles or pedestrians as they are automatically limited to their own path by the protective zone surrounding them, without causing false alarms.
ELOshield works on robots, cobots (collaborative robots) and AGVs (automated guided vehicles), as well as forklifts and other industrial vehicles. The system can be installed on any type of forklift truck – any brand, any age. Our innovative driver-assistance systems can be fitted to new forklift trucks or retrofitted on your existing fleet.
This enables us to react quickly and flexibly to individual customer requirements.
ELOcate is a radio based Real-Time-Location-System (RTLS), which can track and locate all movements within the warehouse.
Should any irregularities or risky scenarios occur, ELOcate automatically triggers notification of these. Users can monitor all movements in real time via a web application. This allows warehouse route planning to be optimised, work processes to be made safer and accidents to be prevented.
ELOcate has a geofencing function for safeguarding areas such as junctions where visibility is limited. If a truck drives over a predefined boundary, the system can automatically limit its speed and warn people and vehicles in the vicinity. ELOcate also triggers a notification in the event of unauthorised entry into access-restricted zones.
ELOprotect is a self-actuating laser scanner anti-collision system for safety and more throughput in very narrow aisles. The mobile personnel protection system is an automatically operating safety device for protecting personnel when industrial trucks are being used in narrow aisles.
If a narrow aisle forklift truck drives into an aisle, ELOprotect is automatically activated and monitors the danger area in the current direction of travel whilst the vehicle is moving. When the vehicle is stationary, ELOprotect monitors both potential directions of travel in order to prevent anyone approaching unnoticed.
If a person is detected in the aisle, ELOprotect automatically brakes the vehicle to a stop. As soon as the driver has made sure that the danger is no longer present, he can reset the alarm by pressing the operating button (deliberate acknowledgement), and the forklift can resume operation. If the forklift leaves the aisle, ELOprotect is automatically deactivated.
ELOprotect is officially recognised in Germany as a replacement measure for operating the narrow aisle warehouse – "replacement measure" because it replaces the safety distance that is otherwise required in narrow aisles. If the safety distance is not maintained, the warehouse cannot normally be operated.
ELOprotect can be pre-installed in your narrow aisle truck manufacturer's factory. ELOprotect can also be retrofitted onto your existing fleet at your site.
The basic configuration of ELOprotect consists of evaluation electronics, two laser scanners and a display and operating module. Depending on your requirements, ELOprotect can be equipped with additional options:
The personnel protection system ELOprotect conforms to the valid EU Directives. ELOprotect is type-tested according to the requirements of annex IV of the Machinery Directive.
ELOprotect Anti Collision System (ACS) is a safety system which autonomously protects vehicles from colliding with each other in very narrow aisles (VNA). When a pre-defined minimum distance is breached, ELOprotect ACS prevents a collision by intervening to automatically slow down the trucks.
All ELOKON systems work on almost all forklift trucks, regardless of the manufacturer or drive type. Our ability to retrofit existing fleets also allows us to customise our products to your individual requirements.
In production and warehousing facilities, the transition from outdoor to indoor working areas poses a particular risk. Forklift drivers are typically permitted to accelerate to maximum speed when outside, but are supposed to slow down when transitioning indoors for safety reasons. ELOspeed, a radar-based system developed jointly with our automotive industry customers, allows vehicles to operate at full speed outdoors, but automatically slows them down to a programmable speed limit as they come inside.
How it works