MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
Ingenious technologies honored with the 13th Annual MHI Innovation Awards across four categories during ProMat 2025.
BY , VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES, MHI
Among the thousands of supply chain and material handling technologies and products showcased throughout McCormick Place during ProMat 2025, four received MHI Innovation Awards. These solutions stood out amid 234 entries to MHI’s 13th annual competition.
Among the three finalists in each category (see sidebar on page 34), awards went home with Anyware Robotics for Best New Innovation; Concentric for Best Innovation of an Existing Product; Fidus Global for Best Information Technology (IT) Innovation; and GRI for Best New Innovation in Sustainability.
The MHI Innovation Award serves to educate and provide valuable insights on the latest manufacturing and supply chain products and services to ProMat attendees. Nine independent supply chain and material handling industry professionals from a range of market sectors accepted the difficult challenge of assessing the submissions. These volunteers first evaluated the entries based on their concept, value and impact on the industry. They then narrowed the field down to three finalists per category.
A second round of judging occurred on the ProMat 2025 show floor, where each finalist presented their unique solution to a panel of independent judges. To choose the four award winners, the judges evaluated the finalists’ solutions based on their ability to deliver quantifiable and sustainable return on investment (ROI), cost savings and customer satisfaction for operations of all sizes.
On Wednesday, March 19, the winners were announced during MHI Industry Night hosted by American comedian and actor Jay Pharoah. All Innovation Award entries can be found online at promatshow.com/innovation‑awards.
Best New Innovation
WINNER: Anyware Robotics—When combined with a conveyor add‑on, the Pixmo mobile robot autonomously unloads trailers or containers at rates up to 1,000 boxes per hour, reducing labor costs by up to 60%.
MHI member Anyware Robotics develops versatile mobile manipulators that autonomously tackle tasks beyond human physical capabilities—whether due to size, reach, precision, speed or hazardous conditions. Focusing on logistics, their first robot, Pixmo, is a mobile manipulator designed to unload containers and trucks, sort and palletize, depalletize, pick cases and load containers.
For unloading floor‑stacked boxes from trailers or shipping containers autonomously, Anyware Robotics equipped Pixmo with a patent‑pending conveyor accessory. The combination of the two solves the trade‑off between flexible and purpose‑built automation, said Torsten Schreiber, VP of product and marketing.
“Rather than requiring complex pick‑and‑place movements, Pixmo employs a ‘pull’ motion to the conveyor, unloading trailers or containers at rates up to 1,000 boxes per hour, and reducing labor costs by up to 60%,” he explained. Those savings earned Anyware Robotics the Best New Innovation award.
“Robots built for specific tasks lack flexibility, while multi‑purpose robots often fall short in performance. This tension limits adaptability in changing environments,” Schreiber continued. “We’ve solved this by providing Pixmo with a conveyor tool to specialize for unloading, while keeping all the advantages of the flexible hardware form factor for other box handling applications.”
Best Innovation of an Existing Product
WINNER: Concentric—The PowerHIVE automated lithium battery management system automatically swaps out forklift batteries in two minutes with no operator intervention required.
As the industry’s first fully automated forklift battery management solution, the PowerHIVE system sets MHI member Concentric apart from the competition for the Best Innovation of an Existing Product award. The system automatically changes lithium‑ion batteries used in forklifts and other material handling vehicles in less than two minutes, significantly boosting productivity.
Concentric developed the PowerHIVE system to help operations leverage the benefits of lithium‑ion batteries. “It addressed the higher electrification requirements needed to optimize lithium battery charging, eliminated operational compliance issues and avoided downtime if a battery or charger goes out of service,” said TJ Shelters, VP of sales. Prior to launching the product nearly two years ago, Concentric field tested the product for 24 months to ensure it could be deployed as advertised and in less than five business days.
With the PowerHIVE system, an operation standardizes on a single lithium battery size. Existing vehicles are equipped with a cradle installed in the battery compartment. The cradle houses a replaceable lithium battery that recharges in a centralized charging station.
To trigger a battery replacement cycle, an operator drives the vehicle to a specific location adjacent to the system. They park, walk to a safety zone and stand on a pressure‑sensitive mat that confirms their location, then press a button. Once triggered, the system scans the vehicle, and a six‑axis robotic arm removes the depleted battery and places it into the intelligent charging station. The robotic arm then selects an optimally charged battery replacement and inserts it into the vehicle’s battery cradle. The driver gets back on the vehicle and returns to work.
Best IT Innovation
WINNER: Fidus Global—Built on open architecture, Pontem warehouse control system (WCS) replaces proprietary middleware with a configurable, cost‑effective solution that seamlessly integrates with existing software and hardware.Although there are dozens of off‑the‑shelf WMS solutions available, there has not been open architecture warehouse control system (WCS) middleware—until MHI member Fidus Global released Pontem. Self‑configurable and cost‑effective, Pontem allows warehouse managers to control their own operations without necessitating the purchase of a proprietary WCS. That earned the company the Best IT Innovation award.
“Because it’s designed to be compatible with hardware and software from a variety of vendors, Pontem eliminates vendor lock‑in,” said Aarron Hale, CEO and founder of Fidus Global. “It gives customers the flexibility to customize, scale and optimize their operations on their own terms.”
Many facilities struggle with outdated, PC‑based control systems constrained by original equipment manufacturer (OEM) limitations. That, in turn, creates operational reliability issues and inefficiencies.
“Pontem breaks this cycle by working with both the software and equipment that users already have. It connects to any warehouse system already in place” Hale explained. “Entering it into the Innovation Awards showcased the product and allowed the industry to see what is possible for their operations. Most don’t realize that not being locked into one vendor is an option. With documented results showing throughput increases of 13.44% and millions in annualized savings, we wanted to show open architecture is the way forward.”
That open architecture backbone enables straightforward integration with complex or outdated warehouse management system (WMS), warehouse execution system (WES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Pontem also integrates with programmable logic controllers (PLC) and industrial PCs (IPC).
Best New Innovation in Sustainability
WINNER: Global Rubber Industries (GRI)—Made from 93.5% sustainable and bio‑sourced materials, the Ultimate Green XT material handling tire has a 55.7% lower product carbon footprint compared to industry standards.
When engineering the Ultimate Green XT solid tire for material handling equipment such as forklifts, the design team at Global Rubber Industries (GRI) wanted to push the boundaries of sustainability without compromising the tire’s durability, load‑bearing capacity, energy efficiency, or cost competitiveness. In 2017 the Sri Lankan company began developing and testing multiple formulations before settling on the one that now comprises the tire—which received the Best New Innovation in Sustainability Award.
“When we launched the Ultimate Green XT, we wanted to achieve two things: one, to prove that a sustainable solid tire does not have to be more expensive than traditional solid tires, and two, that it can perform better,” said Ydo Doornbos, GRI’s director of North America. “We’ve done both, and winning the Innovation Award in Sustainability is proof of that.”
The Ultimate Green XT is crafted with 93.5% sustainable and bio‑sourced materials. It incorporates both natural and renewable contents, including Sri Lankan natural rubber, high‑density silica, recycled carbon black, soybean oil and all natural pigments to achieve its striking green color.
“The non‑marking tire is priced competitively with typical white or gray non‑marking tires, but our value proposition is much stronger,” he continued. “Typically, a white non‑marking tire doesn’t contain carbon black, which means it wears 35% faster. Our tire can be used indoors and outside and offers higher abrasion resistance and durability. Because it can withstand the harshest environments, it has a longer lifespan than even premium black tires—another environmental benefit.”
Freespace Robotics Wins MHI StartUp Pitch Competition
The ProMat StartUp Pavilion showcased 13 new companies with emerging supply chain innovations. Among them, three companies—Cartken, Freespace Robotics and WareBee—were selected by an independent panel of supply chain professionals to participate in the MHI StartUp Pitch Competition. The winner, Freespace Robotics, received a $10,000 check during MHI Industry Night at ProMat with Jay Pharoah.
On Tuesday at the show, a panel of supply chain practitioners from Airbus, Walmart, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Whirlpool and Foley & Lardner LLP judged presentations from each of the three finalists. Each startup had eight minutes to present their solution, followed by seven minutes to answer questions from the judges.
Freespace Robotics exists to achieve a simplified, end‑to‑end order fulfillment solution, explained Karl Sanchack, COO. The company’s founders sought to create a single system that streamlines what they saw as a fragmented approach.
“Until now, applying industrial automation to order fulfillment required multiple point solutions at a facility, aggregated together and then made interoperable,” Sanchack said. “It’s a challenging problem that only gets more complex as more systems are added. We wanted to develop a single solution that simplifies the process to make it more manageable over time.”