Greenwoods Stock Boxes says a new lift installed by European Conveyor Systems is proving a cost-effective and efficient means of moving pallets between the ground and mezzanine floors at its warehouse in Nottingham.
Cardboard for the boxes is stored as cut sheets loosely branded on to pallets of various sizes which are block-stacked in the warehouse. The company initially used a conventional forklift truck with a triplex mast to lift pallets on to the 6m high mezzanine. This has now been replaced by a high-capacity goods lift to improve efficiency and safety.
The lift has a capacity of 1,500kg and measures 2,500mm x 2,860mm x 2,500mm, allowing it to carry up to eight pallets of various sizes at a time. The pallets are loaded in to the lift on a hand truck through wide-opening double doors. The equipment is driven by an electric motor mounted at the top of the shaft, and safety features include parachute brakes and devices that prevent the lift moving if it is overloaded or the lift chain is slack.
As it does not have a pit and is a self-supporting structure, the lift was installed without any civil engineering work, and with little disruption to warehouse operations.
