Leading Irish manufacturer of cast iron cookers and stoves, Waterford Stanley, has chosen a fleet of four Aisle-Master articulated forklifts to work in its warehousing facility, one of two new sites at its Waterford HQ. The company took advantage of the move to adopt a new storage system incorporating narrow aisles and floor to roof racking, based around the space saving capabilities of the Aisle-Master.
At the company’s old premises, a counterbalance forklift and reach trucks handled pallets and stored them in drive-in racking. According to Purchasing and Sales Manager Sharon Brennan, the new system is far superior: “We have easily doubled storage capacity by going down the narrow aisle, articulated forklift route. Additionally, the manoeuvrability of the Aisle-Masters means that although we have some tight and very busy areas in our stores, all four trucks can be operating at the same time for maximum efficiency.
Waterford Stanley’s local materials handling specialist Suirway Forklifts recommended the Aisle-Master articulated system, and together with racking from Sperrin Metal, the company now benefits from an efficient and space saving operation. By cutting aisle-widths to just 1.8m and using all the vertical space for lift heights of up to 8.5m in places, a total of 5,000 pallet spaces has been achieved. Aisle-Masters each have their own designated territory: two work in the finished goods area, one in cast iron components and the other works a double shift handling finished goods.
As the Aisle-Masters work predominantly inside, electric power was considered to be the best option, although the Monaghan based manufacturer’s range of LPG powered trucks is also highly suitable for operation indoors and out. Due to the differing sizes of pallets handled, the trucks are fitted with integrated hydraulic fork positioners which save the operators having to manually adjust the forks.
Since 2005 Waterford Stanley has been part of the Aga Foodservice Group, and exports around 50% of its products to Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Europe. Closer to home, over 250,000 homes in Ireland have a Stanley product, representing a considerable volume of material needing to be moved and stored at the manufacturing site. According to Sharon, “The four Aisle-Masters are on the go all the time particularly in what we call the ‘heating season’ from September to March,” and she is pleased to report that they have proved to be absolutely reliable. The operators are also very happy with the trucks, and consider them much easier to drive than the old counterbalance forklifts. As there is no need to turn around or strain to see the load, visibility is much improved and work in the aisles is safer.
The Aisle-Master range can work in aisles of just 1.75m, with capacities up to 2.5 tonnes and lift heights of up to 12.5 metres. All LPG models are fitted with 3-way catalytic converters, and electric models incorporate AC technology as standard. Manufacturing standards at Aisle-Master are stringent, with build quality and safety featuring uppermost on the company’s agenda.
Aisle-Master Ltd.
Clontibret, Co. Monaghan, Ireland Uk
Tel: 07725 642 472
Email: info@aisle-master.com
www.aisle-master.com
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