Hiab Moffett forklifts will benefit from the company's latest R&D project.

Cargotec subsidiary Hiab has received EUR1.4 million (USD1.8 million) in European Union funding for a three-year research project that will benefit its truck-mounted forklifts.

The project, with academic partners in Poland and Sweden, will develop a new approach to improve operational safety and the efficiency of load-handling equipment.

Design strategies will also be created for advanced light materials applied to load-handling structures to reduce their weight and fuel consumption.

"We are concentrating on lightweight materials that are different types of composite materials (eg. carbon fibre and glass fibre) to reinforce steel structures," says Rafal Sornek, vice president, research and development.

Lighter structures translate into higher payload or lower fuel consumption for Hiab Moffett or Princeton PiggyBack truck-mounted forklifts. The research can also yield a new control system to co-ordinate the steering of forks, and increase the load and outreach of the Hiab Moffett trucks, Sornek says.

The West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Poland will contribute its competencies in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and mechatronics and the Silesian University of Technology in Poland will share its know-how in structural engineering, especially the strengthening of structures. Meanwhile, the Swedish Lulea University of Technology has experience and skills related to robust industrial sensor technology.

"Innovation requires out-of-the-box thinking and this project is like an innovation incubator," Sornek says. "By combining our decades of experience in fulfilling our customers' needs for professional load handling with the latest academic knowledge from various disciplines, together we can achieve better results in terms of more sustainable load handling than would have otherwise been possible."

Sornek adds that the project will involve taking a multidisciplinary approach to crane construction and Hiab will promote the mutual transfer of knowledge between academic and industrial partners.

The project funding is part of the EU's Industrial and Academy Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) and 7th Framework Programme. IAPP promotes innovation and knowledge transfer between industry and academia partners throughout the EU.

Hiab produces loader cranes, forestry and recycling cranes, demountables, truck-mounted forklifts and tail lifts. Its workforce numbers about 3,000 people.

To follow the project, visit: http://www.iload.com.pl/