The designers of Rapid: Petteri Masalin, Kero Uusitalo, Mikko Heine

Rocla's automated warehouse truck (AWT) and Rapid low-level order picker have been given an honourary mention in a prestigious Nordic design competition.

The Fennia Prize is a competition "rewarding the exemplary use and application of design in business". The competition is organised every second year by Design Forum Finland, Fennia and Kauppalehti and carries a EUR35,000 (USD44,471) prize pool.

The Finnish manufacturer of intelligent materials handling solutions was recognised for the unique solutions used in the Rapid and AWT. Rocla launched the AWT last year (Forkliftaction.com News #347) and the order picker was launched this year (Forkliftaction.com News #396).

Petteri Masalin, head of design at Rocla, says a profound understanding of customers' processes together with extensive user studies were the focal point for designing the awarded products. "Our goal was to improve customers' logistical processes, reduce costs and increase the flow of work," he explains.

Rocla won the Fennia Prize Grand Prix in 2007 for its Humanic reach trucks and was honourably mentioned in 2005 (Forkliftaction.com News #193).