Products and Solutions

Efficiency is the foundation for all product development work within the KION Group. Across the Group, universal standards and international coordination of its technical operations around the globe help to streamline the development process for multiple product variants. All development projects initiated by the product management team of the relevant Operating Unit in response to specific customer requirements are coordinated and overseen by the Group-wide CTO¹ Organization.

For the KION Group, the key focus is to ensure its operations are well aligned across the complete value chain and to develop more sustainable products, solutions, and services for its customers. These products and solutions also play a key role in the Group’s efforts to achieve its own sustainability targets. To meet these targets, the company needs a diverse product portfolio—comprising physical products, software, and services—that prioritizes sustainability at all stages of the product lifecycle, from design and production through to usage and end of life.

STILL has set itself clear targets for its product development work, namely to continue to focus its product range on battery and fuel cell powered technologies in the long term and to continually increase the proportion of components that can be cycled back into the production process. In 2022, 97% of STILL trucks sold to customers were electric. In 2020, the innovative Product Evolution Process (iPEP) was also relaunched as part of the KION Product Development Optimization (KPDO) project, meaning that sustainability requirements are now a direct part of the product development process, including documentation of requirements and progress towards the targets set.

STILL is committed to designing products and solutions that are as environmentally friendly and energy-saving as possible, so that it can offer its customers solutions that make efficient use of resources and are also cost-effective to run. To this end, the company sources the most environmentally friendly materials it can and ensures that its products can be easily repaired, refurbished, and re-used as necessary.

Mixed production lines—where several different truck models are assembled on the same conveyor—are another effective way of using resources more efficiently. In addition to offering financial benefits, these production lines are also much better for the environment, since the smaller production area reduces the amount of raw materials and energy required to build, operate, and maintain the infrastructure. In order to produce its counterbalanced forklift trucks on its mixed production lines, STILL has also introduced additional automation solutions, such as welding robots. This increased level of automation has environmental benefits since it avoids spikes in electricity usage; plus it promotes the health of employees, as in many cases they are no longer directly exposed to welding risks such as heat sources and smoke.

To further improve the efficiency of its products, STILL is developing solutions such as smart networks and charging management systems, which help customers manage their electricity usage as efficiently as possible according to the area of application, and to avoid spikes in demand.

With ‘Mission: Zero Emission’, STILL has set itself the clear long-term target of reducing CO₂ emissions from its product fleet to zero. Until then, the company will continue to optimize its existing technology, in order to give its customers an important competitive advantage.

One such technology is its Blue-Q efficiency mode, thanks to which STILL’s trucks are already among the most efficient in their class. This smart technology—which is easily activated via a button inside the truck—enables customers reduce their energy consumption by up to 20% by automatically switching functions off when they are not in use. This significant reduction in energy usage enables customers to substantially reduce their costs—without changing or compromising their operational processes. For an electric forklift truck with a 1.6-metric-ton load capacity working a three-shift pattern over five years, this 10–20% reduction in energy consumption equates to a saving of around 2500 euros—even without taking into account the potential additional savings resulting from reduced wear and tear, a longer battery lifespan, and longer operating time per charge.

For customers looking to switch to alternative energy sources, STILL’s solutions can offer an energy saving of up to 30% thanks to the increased efficiency of its lithium-ion technology. To maximize these benefits for customers, STILL offers a ‘Best Technology Fit Promise’, whereby it analyzes each customers’ individual use case in order to determine the best energy system for their business. This decision is a primarily strategic one, dependent on the customer’s specific use case and cost factors, as well as whether they have the necessary set-up and vision to achieve climate neutrality in their operations.

In addition, a modern fleet management system, such as the STILL FleetManager 4.x or STILL neXXt fleet, provides customers with an overview of all relevant fleet management data, as well as a wide range of data analysis functions. FleetManager 4.x is a tool for managing access permissions, as well as creating and evaluating reports and truck data, while neXXt fleet is an online portal that supports fleet management and the analysis of commercial fleet data. Both systems provide customers with a real-time overview of their fleets, allowing them to further increase the efficiency of their industrial truck operations.

STILL’s products play a key role in its customers’ value chains and have a direct impact on its customers’ progress towards their sustainability targets – including climate neutrality. Greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, efficient use of resources, and the circular economy are therefore key focus areas for STILL in its ongoing efforts to improve its products and solutions. These efforts include: moving towards an all-electric product range, offering a range of different electric drive technologies, increasing energy efficiency wherever possible, developing products that require fewer materials and generate less waste, and sourcing materials that support the creation of closed-loop material cycles.

Over the years, STILL has continued to develop its electric drive technology and, as a result of these efforts, electric forklift trucks with lithium-ion batteries can now achieve load capacities that were previously only possible with powerful diesel or gas-powered models. STILL is committed to developing electric forklifts that can replace their internal combustion counterparts, and in this respect its products have proven extremely successful.

The majority of STILL’s trucks are fitted with energy-efficient lithium-ion batteries. These batteries offer important advantages over conventional lead-acid batteries, notably faster charging times and higher charging efficiency, a significantly longer lifespan, and much higher capacity. The energy efficiency of lithium-ion batteries is also over 90%. In comparison to models with conventional rechargeable batteries, these products therefore help customers to reduce their energy consumption, as well as make a significant cut in their greenhouse gas emissions.

Hydrogen

STILL’s comprehensive range of electric products also includes turnkey hydrogen solutions. STILL is currently expanding production of its own fuel cell system at its Hamburg site and is working together with Hydrogentle—a Hamburg-based company specializing in hydrogen infrastructure—to provide a complete one-stop hydrogen solution for its customers, comprising hydrogen-powered industrial trucks, fuel, servicing, and all the necessary infrastructure.

Depending on customers’ requirements, STILL can supply industrial trucks fitted with fuel cells directly from its factory, as well ‘fuel cell ready’ options. By offering its customers forklift trucks fitted with fuel-cell technology, the company hopes to provide an environmental-friendly alternative to conventional internal combustion models, since the two technologies are very similar in terms of performance. If the hydrogen is produced using renewable energy, the customer’s fleet generates almost zero emissions, which has a big impact in terms of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. STILL has already supplied over 100 hydrogen-powered warehouse trucks—the largest fleet in Europe to date—to a major French food retailer.

The design engineering policies and requirements of the KION Group set minimum standards for supplier parts and the identification of parts. These standards stipulate that used plastic and rubber products should be reused wherever possible; must be compatible with existing recycling systems; and as far as possible must be able to be separated into distinct material types. These same principles are also underlined in the KION works standards.

Since 2022, STILL has been producing its own lithium-ion batteries with a particular focus on refurbishment and recycling. The company has been working together with its partner Li-Cycle to close the loop for these components and address the all-important question of what happens to batteries once they reach their guaranteed number of charging cycles.

For many years, STILL has also offered an attractive range of rental and used trucks, designed to help customers reduce their costs and also preserve valuable primary raw materials. STILL operates refurbishment centers in Bremen (Germany), Poznań (Poland), and Lainate (Italy), where expert teams evaluate the used models, conduct in-depth tests on their hydraulic systems and electronics, and classify them based on their condition (bronze, silver, or gold). Depending on this classification, they then fully refurbish the truck using original replacement parts and repaint it. The battery is regenerated, capacity testing is performed, and after some final quality checks, the truck is ready to begin its second life. By offering this refurbishment service, STILL is already making an important contribution to the expansion of the circular economy.

Old forklifts that have reached the end of their useful life are disposed of in accordance with Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and Council. In line with this legislation, STILL publishes detailed information about the disposal of its forklift trucks at approved recycling facilities.

[1] The KION Group’s cross-brand and cross-regional approach to product development is designed to maintain universal standards and ensure international coordination of its technical operations around the globe. Functions such as research and development, procurement, and quality and sustainability management all fall under the remit of the KION Group’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO).