Product category:
Stacking and picking, aisle trucks, tower trucks, container trucks
News Release from: Translift Bendi | Subject: Translift Bendi articulating, forklift
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 July 2007
Articulated truck doubles pallet storage
capacity
Packaging company reports that by using an articulating forklift truck it has doubled its warehouse capacity for storing palletised goods.
Maybe one does not hear very often the story of a company organising its pallet storage to suit the design of a pallet handling truck Online Packaging in Gloucester, UK, has done so, so it can maximise the benefits offered by a Translift Bendi articulating, forklift
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 16 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Given an articulated forklift's ability to store up to 30% and 50% more pallets than a reach truck and counterbalance truck respectively, it is possible to achieve quick payback on truck rental.
Why use an articulating forklift truck? For one thing, it saves space - typically 33% compared with reach trucks and 50% with counterbalanced (CB) machines.
Though one would have thought that Online already had the densest form of storage possible - block stacking.
Translift bendi reckoned, however, that this storage method is time wasting, highly damage prone and difficult for stock tracking and rotation.
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Online wanted to expand capacity as the size of contracts was growing.
The company wanted to change from block stacking to aisle-based, adjustable pallet racking (APR) to realise instant, 100% stock accessibility.
Even so, storage aisles had to be of the smallest width possible in the 2,500 pallet store.
There are really only two kinds of lift truck that will work in narrow aisles, with stacked pallet racking at over 9m (formerly Online had four-pallet high block stacking), as follows.
* The dedicated, VNA (very narrow aisle) truck.
These trucks, however, cost far more to buy and maintain, requiring such extras like wire or rail guidance and flat floors, and are completely inflexible.
* The articulating Bendi truck - some Hi-Lift versions of the Bendi allow stacking to 13m, higher than any other competing, articulated trucks.
By economising on aisle widths and making better use of height, Online's warehouse manager, Maurice Jotham, believed the company can store twice as many pallets as before.
Produced by Redditch-based Translift Bendi, Online use the B318 three-wheeler model.
It can comfortably work in 1.6m wide aisles and will lift 800kg to 9m.
Online's maximum pallet load is 600kg but pallet sizes vary widely, including double width pallets.
Apart from the inherent safety advantages of the truck's design including better load vision, lack of rear end swing, hill start and safe load rotation, the Bendi has the usual safety features of reversing bleeper, and flashing light.
But the Bendi's range of wheel drives, including front wheel, rear wheel and all-wheel drives, also improves safety through better wheel grip, an advantage covered by Translift's patented technology.
Translift Bendi's managing director, Simon Brown, said: "It's important in this surging sector of the marketplace that trucks adhere to the highest possible safety standards set by the Bendi." Online still uses a counterbalance truck for dealing with lorry loads in the yard.
Th Bendi is equally comfortable with this operation, a task beyond the capabilities of a reach truck, and Online occasionally uses the Bendi for this operation.
This dual functionality of yard and warehouse truck is often identified by distribution companies when changing their lift truck fleets over to Bendis.
Truck productivity can be further enhanced when companies switch over to paperless warehousing, using barcodes with laser readers, because the Bendi can go straight from lorry unloading to racking put away, thus cutting out double handling.
In a rare departure for packaging companies, Online has adopted such technology and on occasions has used the Bendi to raise productivity in this way.
Consequently, combined with other changes, "Our efficiency now is unbelievable," commented Jotham.
Trained on-site by Translift Bendi, the drivers find the truck very easy to drive and preferable to their other types of trucks used.
Much quicker to use than reach trucks when manoeuvring in narrow aisles, the Bendi helps ensure Online can meet tight delivery schedules for its customers.
These include 'same-day' delivery, if possible, for its range of industrial packaging, mainly cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and infill protection.
Bendi reliability and good after sales service are also an essential element in maintaining its high customer satisfaction levels.
Overall savings in space and time, together with reduced capital costs, can create huge savings for operators.
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