john-and-friend.jpgJohn Maguire, Director, Sales and Marketing of Narrow Aisle Limited talks exclusively to Warehouse & Logistics News. Warehouse & Logistics News – Narrow Aisle have been a pioneer of space saving Very Narrow Aisle trucks for many years, how did it all begin?
Our Managing Director Peter Wooldridge and a colleague formed the company in 1976. During the first period of ten years the company became an innovator and market leader in the Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) business designing and producing many types of guided lateral stacking and man-up order picking trucks.

In those days many of the technologies we take for granted today were developed – man-up Lateral Stackers to over 12metres, inductive wire guidance and AC motor control systems to name but a few.

During the early 1980’s the articulated truck concept was researched then, after a short period as part of the Chicago based Interlake Corporation, the company became a private UK company once again and went on to develop the now famous Flexi articulated truck concept.

WHN – You are one of the most senior and experienced professionals in the VNA sector. Can you give us a brief summary of your career to date?
After initially studying Engineering, I worked in the oil industry as a project manager. I moved into the materials handling and logistics sector over 25 years ago and held senior roles at Boss Warehouse Systems and Lansing Linde Ltd before joining Narrow Aisle Flexi – the privately owned British manufacturer of space saving truck solutions which is one of Britain’s longest established VNA equipment manufacturers – in 2004. I having helped to develop the first dedicated wire-guided VNA Combi truck back in 1985 when with Steinbock Boss (which was part of the Boss Group) when the opportunity arose to join Narrow Aisle I didn’t hesitate.

outdoor.jpgWHN – In the four years that you have been with Narrow Aisle, sales of the FLEXI articulated truck range have grown significantly with both the UK and overseas markets really embracing the FLEXI concept.
When I arrived here we took a long look at the company’s product offering and soon identified that the FLEXI range of articulated forklifts in particular had tremendous global potential. Thankfully, Narrow Aisle’s management had had the good business sense to retain ownership of the international rights to the Flexi product and because we had resisted the temptation to license or sell the rights to our products in the mainland European, Asian and American markets, we have over the last four years been able to pursue a global marketing strategy through independent distributors which has brought tremendous results overseas.

We have enjoyed success in Europe, America the Middle East and Asia and we continue to identify new and growing markets that we believe offer tremendous opportunities and we are working hard to identify and develop business relationships with potential new dealers and clients globally.

WHN – How is the Flexi product evolving and what have been the most exciting recent developments from Narrow Aisle?
I think the recent launch of our Flexi EURO offers tremendous opportunities. The Flexi EURO has been specifically designed to be compact enough to work with a Euro pallet measuring 0.8 x 1.2 metres and its small dimensions and fast operating speeds mean that European customers are choosing the Flexi EURO to replace stacker trucks in smaller warehouses and within production stores.

In Germany, for example, operators have traditionally used a combination of counterbalance trucks, reach trucks and support arm stackers within a typical warehouse environment. Counterbalance trucks have been used to unload lorries and reach trucks, support arm stackers and combi trucks have been used to deliver palletized loads to racking. Stackers – both ride-on and pedestrian – can be slow and generally inefficient and we have been able to demonstrate that the Flexi EURO offers more efficiency and greater flexibility.

And it isn’t just within a warehouse environment that the Flexi EURO has enjoyed success. Manufacturing companies are seeing the advantages of the product too. For example, we recently delivered Flexi EUROs to Heidelberg – the world’s leading provider of printing presses.

Before the arrival of the Flexi EUROs Heidelberg had been using a combination of stacker trucks and various counterbalance machines to unload and put away deliveries as they arrived at the factory from its various machinery component suppliers. A counterbalance truck was employed to unload trailers, before a stacker took over and transferred parts to Heidelberg’s lineside buffer store. From the buffer store a different counterbalance truck – smaller in size and capacity to the one used to offload the trailers – was tasked with transferring parts to the production line.

The switch to Flexi EUROs has enabled Heidelberg to use just one truck to do the jobs that up to three forklifts had previously been used for. The Flexi EUROs now collect incoming goods from trailers outside the plant and deliver them directly to the buffer very narrow aisle store and, as component parts are called off for production, they are taken directly to the assembly line using the electric-powered Flexi EUROs.

The cost savings that the Flexi EURO has brought to Heidelberg’s handling operation will be huge. The lateral stackers they had been using could not operate outside and the counterbalance machines that unloaded incoming vehicles were too big to deliver to the line. By demonstrating that a single Flexi truck could replace three machines meant that the case for switching to state of the art articulated technology was simply overwhelming.

There are literally thousands of support arm stacker trucks operating throughout Europe and, in many cases, the tasks they are performing – usually as part of a multi-truck fleet – can be done far more efficiently and cost-effectively with a Flexi EURO.

john-maguire.jpgWHN – You’ve also achieved success selling to the 3PL sector both at home and abroad. Have you noticed any cultural differences between the UK 3PL industry and the broader global third party service provider?
We have 3PL clients throughout the world – all supported by our global authorised distributor network – and of course, like their UK based counterparts, they all focus on the need to achieve the highest levels of efficiency and productivity and customer care. What I do find interesting though, is that our 3PL customers in markets such as Greece, Romania, Korea and the Gulf region don’t seem to have preconceived ideas about how they can best make the kind of efficiency and productivity gains they need to drive costs out of their service offering. They are not weighed down by the baggage of the past and, as a result, are quick adapting to new technologies and are all drawing huge benefits from our Flexi as a result.

WHN – In addition to your production facility in the UK, you have also been successfully manufacturing Flexis in Taiwan for the Asian and US markets since 2002. Has this arrangement been successful?
Once we established that Flexi trucks had real global sales potential it was at the time perceived that the United States and Asian markets required a different specification of Flexi truck to the products that we had sold through Europe. Tailift, our Asian manufacturing partner, is a well-established volume manufacturer of US-Standard forklift trucks and the outsourced manufacturing arrangement with them has worked extremely well. In fact, with 2006’s launch of our new Flexi Generation 4 truck, Narrow Aisle’s design engineers were able to develop a truck which met all relevant European and US standards to produce a truly global articulated forklift which uses one standard reliable platform and common mostly European sourced parts across the range.

Our arrangement with Tailift and our key European suppliers has not only allowed us to increase production volumes (which have more than doubled in the last three years) but has also – through component standardisation – allowed us to increase the build quality of our trucks – quite simply, the more you build the higher quality you get. We now achieve warranty costs of less than 2 per cent – which is equivalent to the very best Japanese factories.

WHN – What is your marketing strategy for the European and global market?
We market, supply and service the Flexi range through well established independent materials handling distributors. I firmly believe that niche products manufacturers such as ourselves will enjoy the greatest long term success if they resist the temptation to license out the intellectual property (IP) of their products in the mainland European, Asian and American markets and, instead, pursue a global marketing strategy through independent distributors.

We have a global marketing operation. Their brief is to work closely with Narrow Aisle’s existing European, Asian and North American distribution partners and to identify and develop business relationships with potential new dealers and clients within emerging territories. All members of our distributor marketing team are linguists and have significant business experience gained within the manufacturing sector. The materials handling industry is an increasingly global business and by having a back-office team dedicated to our customers – both existing and new – we are able to provide the highest levels of service and response to potential FLEXI customers both at home and abroad.

WHN – The Flexi brand has become synonymous with high quality, well engineered products. Do you perceive the arguably lower specification units entering the market as a threat?
Our company slogan is ‘Quality is the Principle’ and we have a long standing reputation for product quality and high levels of customer service across the world which has been built over 18 years of articulated forklift truck design and development.

I firmly believe that newcomers to the market – with little or no experience of the VNA warehousing industry – will find it extremely difficult to provide the type of quality and functionality that the modern articulated truck specifier demands.

WHN – Since its launch the Flexi has become the most popular articulated forklift truck in Europe. What are the traits that your European customers value most in the Flexi?
We have sold over 4000 Flexis – not only in Europe but throughout the world – and over the past five years we have developed our range to cover the requirements of customers operating in hugely diverse industries. Although our clients are involved in the storage and handling of many different products – from foodstuffs to engine parts – they all share at least one common aim: the need to maximize efficiency within their storage operation by making the most of the space that is available.

We offer a range of electric- and gas-powered trucks but we also stress to clients that, as with any piece of materials handling equipment, it is essential to specify the most appropriate truck for the application and environment it has to work in.

Gas (LPG) powered articulated trucks are at their best at sites where they are required to operate on demand, perhaps for two or three hours at a time and then left until needed again over two or three shifts. A good measure of cost efficiency is, is a single bottle of gas is usually sufficient to power the truck over the day – in these cases Gas can be more economical than frequent battery changes.

Gas trucks should also be considered where more than 50 per cent of the truck’s work takes place outside. In any case, warehouse buildings should always be ventilated when gas trucks are operated and systems such as catalytic converters need to be well maintained and monitored to ensure operator safety.

Unfortunately, I believe that there is a tendency among some suppliers to oversell the advantages of LP gas powered trucks and, as a result, some users operate them for applications where electric-powered trucks would certainly be more efficient and cost effective. This was certainly the case with one of Ireland’s leading providers of stationery products.

The company had been operating articulated trucks at its facility for some three years, and, although it remained convinced that the articulated forklift truck concept brought significant efficiency and productivity gains to its operation, the decision was taken to seek a new supplier after the firm’s forklift fleet developed persistent mechanical problems that led to unacceptable downtime in and around the warehouse. The company eventually switched truck supplier and installed to electric-powered Flexi G4 machines from Narrow Aisle Flexi.

It was clear that, for the stationery company’s requirements, a gas-powered truck was not the best choice. At Narrow Aisle we make a complete range of electric and gas-powered Flexi articulated trucks. The latest development – the Flexi ecoGAS has a three-way catalytic converter, plus its proven GM LPG engine with forced air cooling, the truck is lighter and fast and uses 18 per cent less LPG, making it a popular choice among specifiers. However it is essential that the site where the trucks are to be used are suitable for LPG.

In summary we recommend that forklift users consider gas-powered trucks for applications where the machines are used intermittently over 2/3 shifts – on balance the usage of one or two bottles of gas per day is economical; at sites where there is no electrical power or insufficient power available; where more than 50 per cent of the truck’s work is undertaken outside and where the warehouse is ventilated.

Briefly outline the products in the Flexi range.
The Flexi LITE works in aisles as narrow as 1.6 metres wide and lifts to heights of 7 metres. It was designed to bring Flexi articulated space saving qualities to low bay warehouses and is particularly suited to applications where trucks have to weigh as little as possible to travel across lifts within the loading bay.

  • The Flexi EURO was developed to handle to 0.8m x 1.2 metre wide Euro pallet and, like the Flexi LITE, has a chassis just one metre wide. It has fast acceleration and travel speeds and its four wheel design conforms to all European Stability and Security Standards.
  • The Flexi G4 is the most popular articulated truck in Europe. Built on a standard platform it offers low maintenance costs and low rental costs. Its unique twin load wheel drive offers safe traction in all conditions especially when laden.
  • The Flexi HiMAX not only saves space but adds 25 per cent more ground level picking locations compared to moving mast reach trucks. It can lift to 12.5 metres and features a heavy duty fixed mast for unbeatable high level stability. Operators have excellent have level visibility thanks to the truck’s Hi-definition LCD CCTV system.
  • The Flexi HD was specially developed for industrial customers who want to save space and increase pallet throughput. It can lift loads weighing up to 2.5 tonnes to heights of 9.5 metres.
  • The Flexi GAS is a gas-powered truck. It features a 3-way catalyser making it suitable for indoor use and a unique system that makes gas bottle changing simple, efficient and extremely safe for lift heights up to 8.6 metres.
  • The Flexi ecoGAS – as the name suggests – was developed for customers who wanted an articulated Gas truck to work for long shifts using less fuel. Its lighter weight also allows stuffing and stripping of all standard semi trailers and ISO freight containers.

multi-compressed.jpgWHN – Given the European and global economic outlook, what are the prospects for growth for Narrow Aisle FLEXI?
We are taking a bullish approach as we see the looming recession as an opportunity for our company. As users are forced to look to make savings throughout their supply chain, the advantages that the Flexi articulated truck range brings will become even more attractive. With their ability to operate in aisleways as narrow as 1.6 metres and lift pallet loads to heights of over 12 metres, Flexis can save warehouse operators at least 30 per cent of their storage costs – nobody can afford to overlook these kind of savings.

It is also particularly important in the current climate, for trucks to have a value from cradle to grave – by this I mean they must have a good resale value when they come to the end of their first, second or third life.

When it comes to the purchasing decision, a truck’s residual value should be considered from the outset – particularly if the user is considering is entering a lease rental package with its supplier.

If a forklift is being leased, then its residual value – or RV – will have an impact on its monthly rental price. A truck’s RV is its expected market value at the end of a lease period and monthly payments are calculated on a combination of the initial cost of the truck and its anticipated residual value. For example if a new forklift costs £30,000 and its RV has been set at £7,500, the monthly rental fee is calculated on the difference between the two amounts. This means that forklifts that command the highest residual value – like the Flexi – should be available on a cheaper monthly rental.

In this context it is worth noting that thanks to the Flexi’s inherent build quality and our commitment to being a customer service and distributor focused organisation, the resale value of a five year old FLEXI truck in the European market is often over twice that of, say, US or French-built alternatives.

Narrow Aisle Limited
Tel: 0121 557 6242
Email: info@flexi.co.uk
www.flexi.co.uk

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