All round improvements in handling and storage and safer operations have been achieved at Pinewood Structures’ Bedfordshire site by replacing an old fleet of conventional sideloaders with a diesel powered 4-way Combilift sideloader.
Pinewood Structures is one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of timber frame components for commercial and residential buildings, and needs to be able to handle a wide range of raw and finished materials. These can be extremely long, in the case of 12m lengths of engineered wood, heavy – 3 tonne packs of timber, and bulky – roof trusses for example. For much of the company’s 26 year existence, it used conventional sideloaders, but when the time came to renew these, Product Manager Andrew Davis decided to see whether there was a better alternative on the market.
Midland Forklifts, the company’s local materials handling specialists, suggested that Andrew look at the Combilift SL range. This was developed to meet demand from conventional sideloader users wanting all-wheel drive 4-way models with better manoeuvrability and flexibility, able to work in pre-existing aisle widths. Combilift SL’s are available with lift capacities of 4.5, 5 and 6 tonnes, LPG and diesel power options, a choice of front or rear cabs and other customised features. A demo proved that a Combilift sideloader would considerably speed up offloading and transporting product, and enable much better use of storage space both outside and in aisles. The C5000SL model chosen “fitted the requirements perfectly” says Andrew.
The Combilift’s versatility enables it to offload all materials from incoming HGV’s and transfer them to storage areas. When production lines need to be fed, 4-way capability offers excellent manoeuvrability for exact positioning of product at machining facilities. According to Andrew, health and safety has also been enhanced, as all-round visibility from the cab is an improvement on the old trucks where drivers suffered from a blind spot, which also limited operational speed.
Faster runs have now been achieved for better productivity on the busy six acre site, without any compromises on safety, with all drivers agreeing that it is a very operator friendly truck. In storage areas, dead space previously needed for the old sideloaders to manoeuvre has been freed up and used for undercover storage.
The manufacturers Combilift Ltd have a reputation for customised products, and in Pinewood’s case, the SL’s decks were raised to accord with the loading height of the HGV’s, and fitted with road lights for safer twilight operation in areas where there are no floodlights, again ensuring optimum safe operations. “We looked at a number of different brands and models,” says Andrew, “and the Combilift came out on top when it came to quality and manoeuvrability. It does exactly what we had hoped and is an excellent asset.”
All Combilifts are manufactured by Combilift Ltd in Monaghan Ireland. The current range now encompasses fifteen base models with capacities ranging from 2.5 – 14 tonnes, with LPG, diesel or electric power available. A team of design engineers at the Monaghan factory in Ireland will also draw up warehouse layouts, free of charge, to illustrate the best possible use of available storage space using the Combilift system.
Combilift Ltd.,
Tel UK: 07815 314 990
Email: info@combilift.com
www.combilift.com
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