Plant and Electrical has increased the storage density at its new warehouse in Dublin by 50 per cent with an Aisle-Master electric, articulated forklift.
Previously the company used a combination of reach and counterbalance forklifts to handle its range of electrical supplies, cabling, and personal protective equipment, which it imports and distributes to the construction industry. When the business outgrew its old premises and moved to a new site, the directors decided to opt for a more versatile handling system, using a single forklift for all offloading, storing and picking procedures.
Director Eric Davies says: “We have been able to fit 1,900 pallet spaces in the new storage area and there is no way we could have achieved this total with the reach/counterbalance combination – the Aisle-Master’s articulated design and manoeuvrability has enabled us to double the amount we can store, making a huge difference to operations.”
The truck works both inside and out and is fitted with super elastic tyres, so copes well with uneven surfaces. It is a speedier alternative to the old system where each truck was confined to one particular area; the electric reach truck was limited to indoor use, whereas the diesel counterbalance was only suitable for offloading in the yard. The Aisle-Master now enables direct truck-to-rack transport, which cuts out the need for double handling of pallets.
The truck features an integrated side-shifting fork positioner, to help deal with the wide variety of pallet sizes used. This enables quick and convenient adjustment of the fork width from within the cab in accordance with the pallet dimensions.
A half enclosed cab helps to protect against bad weather when working outside, and the in-cab camera eases precise positioning and picking of pallets from the top racking height of 9.4m.
“The drivers are very happy with the Aisle-Master, which has proved to be more stable to operate than the reach truck. Reliability has been excellent, and we enjoy very good local service and support. The articulated route was definitely the one to choose,” says Davies.
