IFOY AWARD 2026: Award ceremony to be held in Stuttgart for the first time

  • The IFOY AWARD Night will take place on June 25, 2026, at the headquarters of software specialist AEB.
  • The illuminated atrium of the award-winning company headquarters will provide the backdrop for the award ceremony, which will be attended by around 200 international guests.
  • The application portal at www.ifoy.org will remain open until October 30, 2025.

Download (click on picture): AEB headquarters in Stuttgart: The IFOY AWARD Night will take place in the award-winning cube on June 25, 2026. Prominent guests at the opening of the AEB headquarters in 2017: Winfried Kretschmann, Minister President of Baden-Wuerttemberg, also gave a speech at the opening. Photos: AEB

Ismaning near Munich / Stuttgart, August 20, 2025. The IFOY AWARD Night will take place in Baden-Wuerttemberg for the first time. The trophies for the International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) AWARD will be presented to the winners of the global intralogistics competition on June 25, 2026, at the headquarters of software provider AEB in Stuttgart.

The building, which won the German Design Award 2020 for “Excellent Architecture,” provides the ideal setting for the award ceremony. With its open atrium, it stands for creativity and exchange and has already hosted numerous IT festivals and logistics events. Around 200 international guests from business, science, and the media are expected to attend the evening event.

"The IFOY AWARD not only honors cutting-edge technologies, but it also brings together the thought leaders and movers and shakers of intralogistics. This fits perfectly with AEB, a company that has been driving innovation in shipping, transport, and warehouse management, as well as trade compliance and customs management, for decades. With its open architecture and focus on collaboration, AEB's headquarters in Stuttgart is an ideal place to celebrate and network the best solutions in the industry," says Anita Wuermser, Executive Jury Chair of the IFOY AWARD.

The IFOY AWARD Night has already taken place 13 times – including at BMW Welt in Munich and the Hofburg in Vienna. With AEB as event partner and host, the IFOY AWARD Night combines award-winning design with a culture of innovation. The AEB headquarters in Stuttgart is not only a place of work, but also a meeting place where knowledge, creativity, and technology come together. In addition to the atrium, the building is characterized by an open office concept, rooms for creative work, and two high-tech data centers. The opening of AEB's headquarters in 2017 caused a stir not only in the logistics community but also among architects.

"Innovation thrives on exchange, courage, and a culture of open dialogue — values that we live by every day at AEB and that this building consciously reflects. The fact that the IFOY AWARD Night 2026 will take place at our headquarters is a highlight for us. We look forward to welcoming the international logistics community here, experiencing technologies that set new standards, and discussing the future of our industry together," says Markus Meissner, Managing Director of AEB.

The application phase for the IFOY AWARD is currently in full swing. The online application portal will remain open until October 30. There are ten categories to choose from for 2026, covering all areas of intralogistics — from forklifts and warehouse equipment to special vehicles, automated and autonomous industrial trucks, stationary and mobile robots, software solutions, outstanding technical components, and ergonomic innovations. In addition, successfully implemented, holistic warehouse and automation projects will be honored. A separate spin-off award will be presented to start-ups. Newly founded companies can apply for the IFOY Start-up of the Year Award with their products and services.

The IFOY AWARD, which is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics, is one of the world's most prestigious technology awards in intralogistics. It is considered a reliable indicator of economic efficiency and innovative strength and is particularly coveted in the industry due to its neutral testing organization and high marketing value.

Candidates are nominated by an international jury of editors-in-chief from leading logistics media outlets in 19 countries. The finalists undergo a three-stage audit consisting of the IFOY Test, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, and a jury test. The evaluation is not based on a direct comparison of the finalists with each other, but rather on a comparison with competing products. The IFOY audit will take place again next year as part of the TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS in Dortmund. The historic Westfalenhalle will open its doors on April 15 and 16.

The IFOY AWARD is sponsored by the German Material Handling and Intralogistics Association and the Robotics + Automation Association within the VDMA. IFOY partners are Messe Dortmund and Cascade, the world's leading manufacturer of forklift attachments. LTG is the logistics partner. AEB is the IFOY event partner.

Applications for the IFOY AWARD and the IFOY Start-up of the Year Award can only be submitted online at www.ifoy.org. The conditions of participation can be requested from the IFOY office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Applications can be submitted at ifoy.org

AEB SE

Simplifying global goods movement and shaping sustainable trade – directly from the cloud: With intuitive software, AEB SE enables efficient, ecological, secure, and fair supply chains. More than 7,000 customers in more than 80 countries use its solutions for shipping, transport, and warehouse management, as well as customs management and trade compliance. AEB employs more than 750 people. The software provider has its headquarters and its own data centers in Stuttgart, as well as 15 national and international locations.


The IFOY AWARD

The IFOY AWARD honors the most innovative intralogistics products and solutions of the year. It has established itself as an indicator of economic efficiency and innovation and, thanks to its technical expertise, is considered one of the most important international innovation awards in intralogistics. The decision is based on a three-stage audit consisting of the IFOY test protocol, which comprises around 80 criteria, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, and the jury test. Crucially, the nominees are not compared with each other, but with their competitors' equipment on the market.

The winners of the IFOY AWARD are selected annually by an international jury of trade journalists. The IFOY AWARD is sponsored by the German Materials Handling and Intralogistics Association and the Robotics + Automation Association within the VDMA. IFOY partners are Messe Dortmund and Cascade, the world's leading manufacturer of forklift attachments. The logistics partner is LTG. The IFOY event partner is AEB. The IFOY organization is based in Ismaning near Munich. The IFOY AWARD is under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

IFOY AWARD WWW.IFOY.ORG

The International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY AWARD) recognises the year's best intralogistics products and system solutions. The aim of the organisation is to document the performance capability and innovative drive of the intralogistics, helping to boost competitiveness and raise the profile of the entire sector in the public arena. The winners of the IFOY AWARD are selected once a year by an independent jury of international trade journalists. The sponsors of the IFOY AWARD are the VDMA Materials Handling and Intralogistics Sector Association and the VDMA Robotics + Automation Sector Association. IFOY partners are Messe Dortmund and the world´s leading forklift attachment manufacturer Cascade. IFOY logistics partner is LTG. IFOY event partner is AEB. The headquarter of the IFOY organisation is in Ismaning near Munich. The IFOY AWARD is under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. In 2024, coverage of the IFOY AWARD reached 2599 articles in 738 media outlets from 45 countries. The organic online media reach (gross) was 886.6 million readers.

Members of the jury

Snejina Badjeva, editor-in-chief Logistika magazine (Bulgaria), Winfried Bauer, editor-in-chief f+h Fördertechnik (Germany), Cecilia Biondi, editor-in-chief Logistica Management (Italy), Alejandra Cabornero, editor-in-chief Logistica Profesional (Spain), Rosa Maria Cherubini, editor Il Giornale della Logistica (Italy), Charleen Clarke, editor-in-chief Focus on Transport and Logistics (South Africa), Theo Egberts, IFOY tester and owner of Buro Andersom / Andersom Testing (Netherlands, without voting rights), Hilda Hultén, editor and publisher Dagens Logistik (Sweden), Klaus Koch, editor-in-chief LogisticsInnovation.org (Switzerland), Véronique Le Voas Barat, publisher and editor Solutions Manutention (France), Valeria Lima de Azevedo Nammur, editor-in-chief LogWeb Magazine (Brazil), Øyvind Ludt, editor-in-chief Moderne Transport (Norway), Bernd Maienschein, specialist editor MM Logistik (Germany), David Maloney, editorial director DC Velocity and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly (USA), Marilena Matei, editorial director Tranzit / Tranzit Logistica (Romania), Matthias Pieringer, editor-in-chief Logistik Heute (Germany), Szilvia Rapi-Jaubert, publisher and editor-in-chief Supply Chain Monitor (Hungary), Sascha Schmel, managing director association materials handling and intralogistics in the VDMA (Germany, without voting rights), Christoph Scholze, editor-in-chief dhf Intralogistik (Germany), Sebastian Śliwieński, editor-in-chief Warehouse Monitor (Poland), Michal Štengl, editor-in-chief Transport a Logistika (Czech Republic), Jarlath Sweeney, editor-in-chief Fleet transport (Ireland), Ying (Crystal) Xu, representative Editor-in-chief, China Industrial News Network (China). The executive chairperson of the jury is Anita Würmser, logistics journalist and managing partner of impact media projects.

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