Vado is a leading bathroom brassware manufacturer, supplying high quality taps, showers, accessories and fittings to a global customer base ranging from luxury hotel chains to contractors. Due to impressive year on year growth the company recently acquired extra warehousing capacity at its UK HQ and distribution centre in Cheddar, Somerset.
Operations Manager Gordon Williams was naturally keen to exploit the full potential of the 45,000 ft sq facility, and was advised to look at Aisle-Master’s range by materials handling specialists Barloworld. The truck that was delivered earlier this year enabled Vado to double the amount of available storage capacity in its warehouse, and the increased pallet density also resulted in substantial savings on the costs of external 3pl storage previously incurred. The initial Aisle-Master has been such a boost to operations that a second truck was delivered a few weeks ago.
By going for the articulated system Vado has been able to install racking to accommodate 1,200 pallet spaces, whereas the wider aisles needed for counterbalance operation would have yielded just 580 spaces. The pallets now stored in the new premises were previously housed off site, so Vado was not only dealing with the inconvenience of having stock located 15 miles from its main base but was also racking up hefty storage and lifting charges per pallet. With an average yearly outlay of £18,500 for this service, payback on the cost of the Aisle-Master will be achieved in less than two years. “The Aisle-Masters have a track record of long life and reliable operation and this has been an excellent investment,” says Gordon. “As they are also made from start to finish in Monaghan we were able to get our trucks in Vado’s corporate colours which was an added bonus.”
Vado chose a 20SE AC electric Aisle-Master model, which will work mainly inside in aisle-widths of 2m and lift to 5.5m. As the trucks are equipped with super elastic tyres they can also be used to load and offload HGV’s in the yard. The advantages of AC technology (incorporated as standard in all electric Aisle-Masters) include smoother operation of controls, brush free motors for less wear and tear of components and lower maintenance as well as more efficient battery charging.
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