Volvo Construction Equipment, Magni America, and Point-of-Rental Software took the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards in the 2021 RER Innovative Products Award as voted on by a panel of rental industry judges.
Volvo CE took the grand prize for its ECR25 Electric Compact Excavator, a machine with zero exhaust emissions, significantly lower noise levels than its conventional counterparts, reduced energy costs, improved efficiency and fewer maintenance needs.
“Society is pushing towards greener fleets, and people are picking up on that,” said Ray Gallant, vice president of product management and productivity for Volvo Construction Equipment. “There are a lot of applications for these machines on government jobs, industrial jobs and construction as well. Contractors have applications working around livestock on farms, working indoors, and working in quiet suburban areas, We’re seeing shifts in demographics, more of an urban population in high-density population centers where noise is a major issue. There is a growing demand for electric machines.”
Magni, born in Italy, has only been a company for a decade, even less than that in North America, but its telehandlers have been growing fast in popularity among contractors and rental companies. At 167 feet, the Magni RTH 6.51 is the highest-lifting telehandler in the world with a maximum lifting capacity of 13,200 pounds with a maximum reach of 113 feet, attributes that swayed the judges to award it the Silver Award.
Point-of-Rental Software, which has now taken the software category for eight consecutive years, continued its dominance in that category and also was awarded the Bronze Award for its Essentials Enterprise, which brings rental software into markets and applications not traditionally in the rental space. The Essentials Enterprise enables retails operations to utilize the benefits of rental software and integrate the retail and rental parts of their customer-facing businesses.
Category winners
The following companies won category awards:
- Compressors/Air Tools: Sullair for its Mid-Range Series Tier 4 Final Portable Air Compressors;
- Computer software: Point-of-Rental Software (also Bronze winner);
- Earthmoving equipment: Volvo CE for the ECR25 electric compact excavator (also Gold winner);
- Generators/Welders: ARA Inc. for Smartload, a fully automatic resistive load bank system;
- Lifts: Genie for its S-80 J telescopic boom lift, the first model in the 80-foot working height category to offer a tracked option;
- Material handling: Magni’s RTH 6.51 167-foot telehandler, also winner of the Silver Award;
- Miscellaneous: a tie between Cojali USA’s Jaltest MHE, the first aftermarket tool exclusively dedicated to perform diagnostics on material-handling equipment; and JLG for its Access Your World virtual experience;
- Power Tools: Makinex, for its Mobile Pod Charger, a storage pod that provides a safe way to store and charge cordless power tools, chargers and battery banks;
- Technology Enhancements: JLG for its Telehandler Accessories – a remote boom control, a multi-reverse camera system and a seatbelt engagement and operator presence option.
RER will have much more information on these and other IPA entries in upcoming issues.