Cranes and Forklift Trucks- Material Handling Systems
Designed for Safe TransportationSHIGERU NISHITAKEHIROSHI NAKADASHUJI KARASUDAYASUFUMI OSAKI

2.1 Past of quayside cranes
In 1956, the first container transportation businessin the world was started in the U.S. In those days, containers were handled by the hook-type quayside cranes
and the deck cranes, not by the dedicated container terminals. In 1958, the first dedicated container terminal
equipped with container cranes was installed in San
Francisco in the U.S., and started services.
Container transportation services were started during the high-speed growth era of the 1960’s between the
U.S. and Australia. This period is regarded as the first
generation of container transportation. After that, since
the round-the-world line, transpacific line, and transatlantic line were used for container transportation,
larger-sized containerships were built, and larger-sized
e 1,
container cranes were developed. As shown in Tabl
able
we are now in the fifth generation.
In the second generation, MHI started production ofcontainer cranes. Since then, MHI has delivered about
300 container cranes.
2.2 Past of forklift trucks
On the other hand, the typical equipment used forhandling of respective materials are the forklift trucks.
Forklift trucks can be roughly classified into 2 types: thecounterbalanced type and the reach type. The counterbalanced type shown in Fig
Fig.. 1 can swiftly transport a

1. Introduction
Recently, the information technology (IT) has maderemarkable progress, and information can be provided
instantaneously. On the other hand, due to globalization of industrial production, speedy material handlingis needed, and the material handling systems are now
being subject to change. Throughout the world, the container transport volume is increased 5% every year. In
Japan, approximately 90% of goods is imported and exported by containership. It is expected that exports andimports will be increased about 60% in 2010, and about
90% in 2015, compared with 1999.
Since the transport volume is increased in this way,containerships used for marine transportation are being large-sized. Nowadays, containerships having 10
times larger carrying capacities than the initial-stage
containerships are in service. In addition, containerships
having much larger capacities are now being developed.
Material handling systems are varying with the increaseof imports and exports.
As the equipment necessary for material handling,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is manufacturing quayside cranes, mill service cranes, overhead cranes,
bulk handling cranes, grain silo plants, various material handling systems, such as automatic storage &retrieval system, and various vehicles for material
handling, such as forklift trucks and automatic guided
vehicles (AGV).
This paper describes the history and future technology of quayside cranes that are necessary for marine
container transportation, and also describes the history
and future technology of forklift trucks that are taking
an important role to meet the diversified needs for material handling.

2. Period of rapid growth and past of material handling systems
This section introduces MHI’s initial quayside cranes
and forklift trucks, and describes the period when these
initial products were manufactured.

Fig. 1 Counterbalanced type forklift truck

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Technical Review Vol.40 No.1 (Feb. 2003)

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Table 1 Transition of containership size and cranes
PeriodBefore1966

Container craneCharacteristics of containership

1st generation

Between the U.S. and Australia
Transport volume: 400 products

Typical customer of container crane1968 Ports and Harbours Bureau,
City of Yokohama
1970 Hanshin Gaibou Futou Corporation
1972 Keihin Gaibou Futou Corporation1975 Nagoya Container Bureau
1978 Port of Brisbane
1982 Port of Singapore

From the U.S. to Europe via
Japan and Australia
Transport volume: 700 to 1 500 TEU
Panamax Size Ship
Transport volume: 2 000 TEU
Stacking on deck: 13 rows
Crane outreach: 36 m or more

1966 to
1 970

2nd generation

1971 to1984

3rd generation(Panamax)

1985 to1995

4th generation(Post Panamax)

Post Panamax Size Ship
Transport volume: 3 000 TEU

1996 toPresent

5th generation(Super Post
Panamax)

Super Post Panamax Size Ship
Transport volume: 4 000 TEU
Stacking on deck: 17 or more rows
Crane outreach: 45 m or more

Products sold2

119

1988 APL (LA/Oakland)
1989 Port of Singapore
1991 MTL (Hong Kong)

125

1997 Port of Singapore
1998 Yokohama Port Development
Public Corporation
2000 Osaka Port Corporation
2002 Tokyo Port Terminal Public Corporation

54

300

Total

provide better services, and to extend the sales network.
At present, MHI is manufacturing the engine-type vehicles of 1-ton to 42-ton classes, and battery-type vehicles
of 1-ton to 3-ton classes, and various attachments. In
this way, MHI is providing various products to meet thecustomer needs.
MHI advanced into the foreign markets at the earlystage. Establishment of three MCF companies (Note) together with Caterpillar Inc. in 1992 particularly
promoted globalization of MHI’s business. These 3 companies are in charge of marketing, production, sales, andservices in their respective areas. On the other hand,
MHI functions as the design center, and collects information from three companies to develop new models, andnew technologies. In this way, MHI and the other companies are organically and efficiently cooperating witheach other.
Note: These 3 companies are Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift
America, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe, andMitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Asia established in
America, Holland, and Singapore, respectively.

Fig. 2 Reach type forklift truck

3. Globalization and present situation of material
handling equipment

large amount of heavy materials, and is used at spacious
places in and out of doors.
Since the reach type shown in Fig
Fig.. 2 can turn in asmall space and can lift materials to high places, thistype is suitable for transportation of materials in narrow warehouses and storage of materials on racks.
The above-described material handling equipment issubject to change. For example, due to growing tendency
toward environmental protection, the motive powersources of these vehicles are now being changed fromthe engine type to the battery type. In addition, due tothe diversified and upgraded material handling method,various indoor material handling vehicles are now being
developed.
In 1971, MHI came onto the market. In these 32 years,
MHI has been making efforts to develop products, toThis section describes the present state of material
handling business from the viewpoint of internationalization of production bases, diversification of material
handling methods, and needs for speedy material handling.
3.1 Present situation of quayside cranes
The present container terminals consist of container
cranes (designed for material handling in containerships)
Fig
Fig
(Fig
Fig.. 3 ), mobile harbor cranes (Fig
Fig.. 4 ), transfer cranes
Fig(designed for material handling in yards) (Fig
Fig.. 5 ), andFig
straddle carriers (Fig
Fig.. 6 ).
Among them, the main units are the container cranes,
and the container cranes are equipped with anti-sway
control devices and automatic operation systems for the
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Technical Review Vol.40 No.1 (Feb. 2003)

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Fig. 3 Container craneFig. 6 Straddled carrier

Fig. 4 Mobile harbor crane: CNG: Gasoline

100

50

0

CO

HC

Nox

CO2

Fig. 7 Characteristics of gas exhausted
from CNG forklift trucks

Fig. 5 Transfer cranehuge containerships and can be high efficient operation.
In addition, the remote monitoring and maintenancesystem is adopted to facilitate maintenance. So MHI’s
specialists can remotely monitor the current crane operation status and the error status. In this way, MHI ismaking efforts to raise the operation rate.
Considering the damages of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, MHI has developed and delivered
quayside container cranes equipped with the seismic isolation system so that the container cranes in charge oflifelines can operate without any damages even after agreat earthquake.
In addition, since mobility and versatility areneeded for the mobile harbor cranes, MHI has applied
the anti-sway control technology developed for the container cranes to the mobile harbor cranes. In this way,
MHI is developing and delivering easy-to-operatecranes.
3.2 Present situation of forklift trucks
Environmental protection is considerably important
now. This section therefore describes environmental
problems and typical examples of cooperation with othercompanies in the world.
(1) Purification of exhaust gas
Considering the excellent characteristics of compressed natural gas (CNG), MHI has developed
1.5-ton to 5-ton class CNG-engine forklift trucks. Generally, CNG engines have some problems that operable
time per each gas charge is short and special equipment is required for charging the gas. As shown in
Fig
Fig.. 7 , however, an in-house test has showed an ex-cellent result that the CO2 content in exhaust is lessby approximately 25% than that of a gasoline engine,
and the fuel cost in CNG engine is estimated to be
one half or less compared with that in gasoline or diesel fuel engine. MHI installed a quick gas charge
installation in MHI Sagamihara Machinery Works theyear before last. In addition, being authorized to be amodel plant producing CNG powered forklifts, MHI
is striving to provide necessary information to customers and popularize CNG forklifts through anumber of presentations.
MHI is also making efforts to purify the exhaustgas of conventional forklift trucks of gasoline-engine
type and diesel-engine type. Electronic control engines
will be adopted for the 3.5-ton to 5-ton class gasolineengine type vehicles at their next minor change, andwhile preventing performance deterioration and costrise, MHI will develop vehicles that can meet the exhaust gas control standards specified by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the secondary exhaust gas control standards (CARB tier 2)
specified by the State of California.
(2) Battery-type forklift trucks
Since the battery type forklift trucks are driven by
the electric motors, this type of vehicles will not damage the environment. The problem is that the powerof this type is not strong, but since the AC motor drive
technology has been developed, this type has been
upgraded to have the same power as the engine type.
It is therefore said that more attention will be paidon the battery type from now on. So MHI will develop
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
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Fig. 9 Container terminal

Fig. 8 Rear drive 3-wheel electric counterbalanced forklift truck

products using our own technologies and will developelement technologies for the future.
In 1998, MHI developed the 3-wheel electric counterbalanced forklift truck, and in 2000, MHI fullychanged the 4-wheel electric counterbalanced forklift
truck to put it on the U.S. and Europe markets. Last
year, MHI newly developed the 1-ton to 1.5-ton class
3-wheel electric counterbalanced forklift truck (lower
class forklift truck compared with the above-describedFig
3-wheel forklift truck) (Fig
Fig.. 8 ). In this way, MHI has
been putting new products on the markets one after
another.
(3) Cooperation with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Ignoring the conventional thinking, various manufacturers are now cooperating with each otherthroughout the world. In 2000, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
and MHI agreed that two companies should cooperate with each other to develop forklift trucks, topurchase parts, and to provide products. The purposeof this joint venture is to provide good products byeffectively using the other company’s resources eachother, such as the personnel, technology, information,
and associated companies. Until now, MHI has provided 4-ton to 5-ton class engine-type forklift trucks
to Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. In addition, the next-term
engine-type forklift truck is now at the final stage ofmodel change. In this way, our cooperation is now
obtaining good results one after another.

should handle materials more speedily, and should reduce the cost. Since there are the same needs in Japan,
the 365-day 24-hour operable container terminals should
be constructed.
To meet the above-described needs, MHI should establish:(1) Terminal control systems that can ensure effective
operation of the entire terminals(2) Automatic container terminals that enable labor saving and ensure high efficiency
Regarding (1), after being unloaded from acontainership, any containers should be speedily transported and useless movement should be eliminated.
Considering this point, MHI is now developing software
to enable efficient container storage and control, and toefficiently operate the transfer equipment. In addition,
MHI is also developing unmanned gates to shorten thegate passing-through time.
Regarding (2), MHI is now developing automatictransfer cranes, AGV, and highly efficient container
cranes to establish unmanned automatic systems in various yards.
In addition to the conventional anti-sway control devices, MHI has adopted “Magic Eye” for the automatictransfer cranes in order to develop upgraded control sysFig
tems for realization of automatic stacking (Fig
Fig.. 10
10).
MHI has realized low pollution and low fuel consumption by adopting electric motor drive for the AGV. The
electric motor drive enables the AGV to travel freely tooblique directions by 4-wheel drive mechanism and torealize high efficiency in material handling. Moreover
MHI can provide the best systems to the customers byproposing the operation management systems together
Figwith the vehicles (Fig
Fig.. 11 ).
4.2 Future material handling with forklift trucks
MHI thinks that the future material hadling will be
as described below. So MHI will positively develop technologies and opens markets.

4. Material handling systems designed for safe transportation
4.1 Future of container terminals
Due to globalization of the society, companies all over
the world are making efforts to further expand theirbusiness areas. So the needs for container transportation is being increased, and container terminals should
Fig
Fig.. 9 ). For example, container tersatisfy such needs (Figminals should provide better services to meet such needs,

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Technical Review Vol.40 No.1 (Feb. 2003)

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Magic eye

Fig. 10 Magic eye

mum maintenance plans and of upgraded services.
(3) Expansion of market and development of cooperation
Markets are now being expanded, as shown regionally in China, and also product diversity such as
recently developed various indoor material handlingvehicles is proceeding. According to this situation,
various types of cooperation between manufacturers
are inevitably increased. However, such cooperation
is not so easy because of difference between the regional and corporate culture, or difference indecision-making systems. Nevertheless, through theexperience obtained in cooperation with the MCF andNissan Motor Co., Ltd, MHI will promote globalization, aiming at good partnership.

Fig. 11 AGV

5. Conclusion(1) More demands for environmental protection andsafetySince engines and power electronics are the key
components for environmental protection, MHI willplace importance on development of technologies forthese key components. Regarding safety, MHI will
adopt electronic control method to ensure safety.
(2) Rational “use” of vehicles
A concept that material handling vehicles shouldbe "exclusively used" for certain specified economic
purposes is spreading among customers. From theviewpoint of this concept, therefore, it is needed thatthe maintenance cost should be reduced, and the vehicle operation conditions should be properly managed
in order to improve the efficiency in material handling. Accordingly, besides the means prolonging
maintenance intervals and proving remanufactured
parts (recycled parts) for maintenance at low prices,it becomes important to further develop the information technology (IT) for material handling, such ascollection and management of vehicle operation data,
upgrade of failure diagnosis technology, and preventive maintenance based on reliability analysis. The
vehicle related data accumulated will be very usefulfor providing the better services in the future. For
example, such data will be used for proposal of opti-

Since MHI has been developing and manufacturing
the material handling systems, quayside cranes and forklift trucks are described above as MHI’s typical products.
Due to spreading of ubiquitous computing, information
is freely provided in these days. Under such conditions,
MHI will develop and provide high-quality information
systems and material handling systems to our customers at low prices in order to meet customer needs.
Steel Structures& Construction
Headquarters

Shigeru Nishitake

General Machinery& Special Vehicle
Headquarters

Hiroshi Nakada

Hiroshima Machinery Works

Yasufumi Osaki

Shuji Karasuda

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Technical Review Vol.40 No.1 (Feb. 2003)

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