Food Logistics, the only publication dedicated exclusively to the global food and beverage supply chain, announced the recipients of its second annual “Food Logistics Champions: Rock Stars of the Supply Chain,” award this week. At the top of the list was Plug Power’s VP of Hydrogen Strategy Tim Cortes.
The award recognizes influential individuals and organizations in the food/beverage industry whose achievements, hard work, and vision have shaped and continue to attain milestones in safety, efficiency, productivity and innovation throughout the global food supply chain.
Plug Power develops hydrogen fuel cell power solutions, namely GenDrive, for food logistics customers to use in their electric lift truck fleet. For years, this solution was best suited for fleets in excess of 75 trucks. Under Tim’s leadership, Plug Power has developed hydrogen fueling infrastructure options that enable customers with as few as 20 trucks to adopt the productivity-enhancing power solution.
In 2015, Plug Power installed this scaled solution at customer sites across North America, significantly increasing the serviceable market and securing new customers like FreezPak and Dietz and Watson with forklift fleets of between 25 and 130 units. The enhanced design not only reduced time to deployment, but took a further step in proving that hydrogen can be cost-effectively used in other fuel cell-powered devices.
“Plug Power is the leader in creating a real, viable market for hydrogen and fuel cell solutions,” said Cortes. “I continuously push my team for the development of new products that will position the company for continued growth. The three main areas of our hydrogen solution development strategy are ensuring that the existing hydrogen system deployments are meeting the demanding needs of our customers, overseeing the installation of new systems, and a forward-looking strategy for hydrogen system design, architectures, and technologies. We’re making that happen every day.”
Individuals and organizations that earn a place within the “Food Logistics Champions: Rock Stars of the Supply Chain” award were profiled in the March 2016 issue of Food Logistics, as well as online at www.foodlogistics.com.