The Flexi AC range of articulated fork lift trucks from Narrow Aisle has been developed specifically to improve storage, handling and customer order assembly efficiency in manufacturing and logistics.
The flagship in the range, the Flexi AC 1200 electric powered articulated forklift truck is the most popular articulated warehouse truck in Europe. The important design elements, together with the numerous advanced operational and safety features increase the Flexi AC ranges appeal even further for operators.
John Maguire, Commercial Director, Narrow Aisle UK, spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
Warehouse & Logistics News – Can you talk us through the different products and services Narrow Aisle provides?
We are completely dedicated to making and supplying Flexi AC range articulated truck solutions, and do not make or sell any other products.
Other manufacturers have a foot in different camps – making, for example, large engine power forklift trucks or dock container handling equipment, which has no synergy with warehousing intralogistics.
A completely different approach is required to provide warehouse truck solutions; it’s not just about “engineering trucks,” it’s about understanding the customers’ real needs and experience in the warehousing arena and we have over 30 years’ experience in this area.
Narrow Aisle designs, manufactures and supplies the Flexi range of Articulated Warehouse Trucks from 1.3 tonnes capacity to 3.0 tonnes capacity, with lift heights available from 3 metres to 15 metres, very narrow stacking aisle performance from as little as 1.6 metres between pallets.
The Flexi VNA range is the “narrowest” on the market for maximum aisle performance and maximum travel speed, and turns quickest with an outstanding 230° of true articulation.
Narrow Aisle has a global parts central store at Tipton, West Midlands, comprehensive product distribution and aftersales support in over 60 countries around the world.
Flexi Training Limited is able to provide a complete operator training service across the whole of Western Europe.
WLN -What sets your company apart as a supplier in your sector? Why should busy professionals from the warehouse and logistics industry take time out to visit your stand at IMHX? What is your overall message to visitors?
Our company has always specialised in providing efficient, space-saving solutions to the retail, third party warehousing, logistics and manufacturing sectors. The development of the Flexi Articulated warehouse truck concept in 1990 provided a step change; it allows our customers to reduce stacking aisles and maximise storage capacity without the need for steel rails or wire guidance. At the same time they can safely carry out efficient customers’ order assembly at the key ground level locations, allowing the operator to bulk store pallets above the ground level pick face and therefore create a real distribution centre solution, with over 30% more pallet storage density.
The growth of the company has accelerated further recently, as these safe order-picking attributes are the ones most valued by the e-fulfilment and third party logistics industry.
Visitors to the Flexi stand can to catch up with what we have to offer in 2016! On top of that, we would say that spending one day at the show is not enough to maximise your appreciation of the benefits available!
WLN – What will visitors be able to see on your stand at this year’s show? Which of your core products and solutions are you presenting? Are you lunching anything new at IMHX?
At IMHX we are taking the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of the Flexi AC range. The concept is to make our products come ‘alive’ for the customer.
We have a number of new innovative products to release at this IMHX. They include:
• The new Flexi AC StorMAX range – a new concept that combines very narrow aisle operation with the ability to store two pallets deep up to 11 metres high. When used in conjunction with a modern Warehouse Management System (WMS) it can provide more than double the number of pallets locations compared to a traditional reach truck layout.
• CCTV/LCD/HiDef – for carrying out high lifts into two deep locations safely and accurately. Other major features on the StorMAX AC 2.5 include 210° over articulation. The Flexi AC StorMAX is unique in working in a 2.0 metre aisle with faster four wheel articulation steering and turning even when fitted with our unique integrated two deep telescoping forks design, with Stability Control System (SCS) to maximise pallet capacity in the top back space – sometimes previous reach truck base products failed to provide. The StorMax runs on AC power and can deliver real inside to outside performance on treaded superelastic tyres.
• Flexi AC VNA – the smallest aisles, fastest throughput, no guidance required. The VNA solution that allows safe low level order picking in the aisle at all times.
• FlexiPiCK – the concept that is sweeping through America, FMCG retails case layer picking order assembly. Eliminates manual case picking and provides pick rates of 1200 cases per hour per operator.
• Flexi NANO – low cost VNA operation aimed at the out of town retail sector, easy to drive, versatile pedestrian truck operation.
In addition, our Flexi Warehouse Systems Division will debut at the show. They use our 30 years of industry experience to develop customers’ projects looking at all the elements that influence the efficiency of their operation and future payback of their new warehouse, especially the concept of compressing the project timeframe to accelerate implementation and therefore payback starts earlier.
This attribute is very important in the fast growing e-fulfilment and third party logistics sector, where fixed contract terms and customers needing early fulfilment start dates are critical.
We have an expert multi discipline team with the skills and experience of successfully supplying space saving intra-logistics solutions to the warehousing industry over many years.
Using CAD, modelling and partners in WMS, storage equipment systems and complementary materials handling equipment we are able to optimise the efficiency of a given warehouse space to provide the most cost effective solution in a much faster implementation timeframe than has previously been possible.
WLN – The last IMHX was in 2013. How have your customers’ needs changed since then? What are the biggest pressures your clients face these days? How are you addressing these? The landscape has changed significantly, the burgeoning growth of eretailing has hugely increased the pressure on the warehousing industry.
The increased ‘back end’ loaded cost structure in eretail where the savings on retail stores, staff and high street delivery have been pushed forward into the need to create Omni channel intralogistics warehouse solutions is both a challenge and a huge opportunity for the industry. Our Flexi Warehouse systems space saving solution are proving to be very interesting to operators in the sector.
We see a very bright future as the traditional RDC based retail networks with their wide picking aisle, reach trucks and low level order pickers are replaced by Omni channel facilities that include high density product storage, automated picking solutions, pick and pack systems and often significant returns processing facilities.
WLN – Can you tell us about your major customer contract wins in the last three years? Do these represent new development areas for your company?
The changes have been immense. Our existing wide customer base is the third party logistics sector who trust us to provide efficient space saving solutions and the service level offer that provide national rapid service response and the off the shelf availability of stand by rental Flexi trucks to support seasonal peaks and short lead-time new business implementations.
Perhaps the most exciting development is the sheer number of new StorMAX operations that have doubled their previous reach truck storage capacity and at the same time implemented the layer pick concept to allow one driver to pick and assemble multi-layer customer orders at a rate of up to 1,200 cases per hour, more than five times the accepted manual low level order pick and pack rate in the retail RDC network.
WLN – How do your products and solutions address today’s increased emphasis on safety and environmental impact in warehousing and logistics? Will you be highlighting this aspect of offering at the show?
Our Flexi AC product range has been uniquely developed to comply to both European and North American safety standard. This makes it a truly global product range.
All our products use modern battery electric drive and hydraulic systems which are based on clean and reliable lead acid battery technology.
All batteries have a long life service life and are fully recycleable at low cost. We deploy modern rapid charger systems that, compared to traditional equipment, can save 50% on electricity costs. The rapid move away from LC engine powered equipment to battery electric has now reached all our main growth markets in China, India and the Americas.
0121 557 6242
NARROW AISLE UK
Flexi-Narrow-Aisle
@Flexiforklifts
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