Toyota names winners of grants to study supply chain tech

Lift truck manufacturer Toyota Material Handling North America (TMHNA) has chosen three projects for its funded research program to develop supply chain technologies, the company said Thursday.

Toyota first unveiled the research program in July 2016, announcing it would sponsor research to create next-generation technologies for supply chain, logistics, and material handling industry applications.

Dubbed the TMHNA University Research Program, the initiative solicited application proposals from universities across North America, with a promise to grant funding to the most promising ideas. Toyota did not specify the amount of funding awarded.

The program has now announced the first three proposals to win funding:

• Applying Location-based Informatics, Simulation, and Optimization Methods to Forklift Driver Behavior, Congestion, and Wireless Charging Studies.

  Participating Universities: State University of New York at Binghamton; University of South Florida

• The Impact of Emerging Logistics Paradigms on Material Handling System Functional Requirements.

  Participating Universities: Clemson University; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Arkansas

• Data-driven Failure Predictive Analytics for Internet of Things (IoT) enabled Service Systems.

  Participating University: University of Wisconsin-Madison

"These universities have presented projects that can help foster innovation for the growth of our industry and the warehouses of the future," Brett Wood, president and chief executive officer for Toyota Material Handling North America, said in a release. "We look forward to seeing what this funding and collaboration will allow these universities to accomplish, and the positive impacts their research could have on driving the future of our industry."