Since our business was founded in 1976 we have been at the forefront of very narrow aisle warehouse truck innovation. Not always first but always the best. Our products are always developed to be totally focused on the customer needs and safe productive operation, this approach has provided a platform for sustained long term success, and our customer base includes most of the world’s top international companies to prove it.
In recent years our growth has been spurred by the significant business we receive from the world’s best known manufacturers of forklift trucks and their global distribution networks. A great vote of confidence in our reputation for quality and durability.
Narrow Aisle is a leader in the innovation, design and manufacturer of very narrow aisle warehousing (VNA) truck solutions. Flexi Narrow Aisle pioneered the development, design and manufactures the award-winning Flexi AC range of articulated VNA forklift trucks.
Flexi AC trucks, designed and manufactured by the company are distributed in the UK and world-wide through a fully supported distributor network.
Our headquarters are in Great Bridge, 8 miles west of Birmingham, UK. From this location since 1976 we have been supplying innovative space saving and efficient truck based warehousing solutions, our key global markets include USA, India, South Africa, Brazil, Gulf Region, Argentina and Australia.
WLN – As the Narrow Aisle category experts, how has the category been performing in the last 12 months? What are the major trends and developments?
The VNA segment has recovered rapidly from the post ‘crisis’; lows, however the increasing lack of built new warehouses with good quality ‘flat’ floors has proved to be a drag on sales of ManUp guided trucks, the comparitively low level of investment in new build will continue to keep equipment sales low in this segment. However the Flexi articuatled truck market has grown significantly due to the number of customers needing to reconfigure existing buildings. Many are using our Flexi articulated trucks which can increase capacity by 30% compared to traditional reach trucks and do not need ‘flat’ floors or wire guidance like ManUp units require. Huge potential cost saving at minimal capital costs. In fact, we know customers who have completely reconfigured the operations to Flexi VNA, once they include savings on LED lighting energy costs, their overall project payback is less than 12 months.
WLN – What are your core products and services: what are you best known for providing?
Our range of Flexi AC trucks is now developed for use across all logistics, manufacturing and retail sectors, the range covers seven key customer requirements. HiMAX AC model lifts to 14 metres with state of the art vision and stacking systems is pushing the traditional Manup guided stacker out of the large high bay warehouse market. Our VNA AC model has allowed many existing customers with lower lifting ‘Turret’ Man Down stackers to replace with a product that is 25% more efficient in identical aisleways with or without guidance.
The Euro AC has made significant in roads into the retail back of store pallet unloading and storage market, retail customers are able to halve their under-utilized ‘back of store’ fleets of reach trucks and counterbalance replacing them with one four wheel EURO AC that eliminates double pallet handling and increases storage capacity by up to 30% handling both ISO (CHEP) or EURO (DB) pallets with ease.
The Flexi AC has been a top seller for over 20 years. Over 4000 of these ‘workhorse’ articulated trucks are at work up and down the country. Many have been ‘upcycled’ by refurbishing to provide long term usage at very low operating costs, hence the second hand values of the Flexi are by far the highest in the industry, legendary in fact.
Many Third Party Logistics companies have invested in newer taller ‘high bay’ warehouse facilities, these buildings typically need higher lift Flexi trucks with more capacity. The Flexi HiLOAD AC was developed to provide a platform to lift the standard UK grocery retail pallet weight 12 tonnes to over 10 metres. Interestingly the lift height of HiLOADs is often one extra pallet higher than traditional reach trucks in the same building as there is no loss of stacking/storge height due to high ‘reach legs’ on a Flexi. Of course the original Flexi benefits are still available 25% increased throughput speeds, no lost time ‘reaching’ and no ‘double’ handling when vehicle direct loading.
WLN – What developments or upgrades have you made to your core products and services in the last 12 months?
We pressed on with development of our global distribution network, 50 countries to date.
Renewal of ISO 9001 accreditation for 20th year together with a major component supplier quality upgrade, significantly extending Flexi durability and warranty terms. Major reduction in servicing requirements which will reduce operating cost and increase uptime for all our customers.
We developed and introduced our first new ‘Order Picking’ truck for a decade; the FlexiPiCK. All our previous products were ‘Manup’ cab type orderpickers. Over time customers have come to realise that ‘manual’ case picking is in most cases not cost effective. In fact the increasing reduction in ‘items per line visit’ brought about by the advent of ‘e’ fulfilment, means it is no longer cost effective to use manual manup cab orderpickers due to rising labour costs and poor productivity.
Our FlexiPiCK, for the first time, introduces mechanised picking of full pallet layers to the UK Logistics industry. The concept is well tried and tested in North America and growing rapidly and is set to replace a significant proportion of current manual picking of orders in the wholesale and retail sectors here in Europe.
WLN – What makes you the ‘go to’ supplier in your area of expertise?
As we have nearly 30 years of experience in providing customer driven space saving and efficiency improving solutions for the logistics industry we are able to rightly claim to be market leader in the field.
Our products have for 20 years been built to ISO 9001 quality standard here in the UK, which is close to a record for any company in our field. Our Flexi range may be intelligently designed and built of top quality components to exacting quality standard but we also have a reputation for good value for money. We have remained the largest volume manufacturer of articulated trucks, this means we have economies of scale to provide cost effective trucks of the correct specification – no compromise.
WLN – Have you launched any new products and services in the past year? How are they performing?
Our Flexi VNA AC was introduced to customers last year, this unique four wheel Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) truck that will operate in a truck 1.6M aisle with an ISO (CHEP) pallet without guidance has proven to be a popular option with 50% more customers than we expected installing our units.
The ability to work in existing guided ManUp truck installations has allowed operators to increase pallet throughput at much lower cost per pallet than these large guided vehicles installed in the past. The added bonus especially in the ‘e’ fulfilment sector is that aisles operated by Flexi VNA AC can also be used for simultaneous ground level customer order assembly which is prohibited with the old style ManUp lateral stacking units. Ground level order picking is the only cost effective method these days.
WLN – Which industry sectors are your customers in?
We have a range of Flexi products that have been developed to solve intralogistics handling and storage challenges across virtually all industry sectors that need to store and distribute goods on pallets. Our new product FlexiPiCK has moved us into the customer order assembly arena in the grocery retail sector. Our development of pallet less handling for single products like white goods and appliances has also opened up new customer order fulfilment roles for our Flexi product.
WLN – Can you name some of your major customers and tell us about the work you do for them?
Its problematic to get permission to publish case studies but see below names we can not take the risk by saying more.
Samsung
Range Stores
Kingfisher Group
DHL
Ceva Logistics
Robert Bosch
Bibby Logistics
WLN – Can you tell us about your latest major projects, and what they involve?
Our largest single site project in 2014 has a capacity of 70,000 plus pallets in 765000 sq ft with 25 x Flexi HiMAX lifting to 13 metres using modern LCD high definition vision and programmable lazer guided guided lift height selector systems. Our smallest project is one Flexi EURO nothing at the ‘back of store’ in North of Scotland, providing all unloading and storing facilities even in the snow if needs be.
WLN – Have you made any big moves recently in terms of investment in the business, recruitment and so on?
Having extended our plant by circa 40% in 2013 we’ve grown into that space, to help increase production volumes and quality we have made a number of strategic alliances with quality Tier 1 suppliers. We agreed solus supply agreements this year with Continental AG for all our superelastic tyre supplies; a major step up in safety and quality. Europe’s foremost MHE electric motor manufacturer Schabmüller, has also agreed a solus supply agreement to provide us with all our requirement from one reliable and high quality source.
Due to a significant increase in volume sales in the UK, we have appointed two additional business development managers to increase the service we provide to the logistics industry in the fast growing Midlands and South West/Wales regions.
Our development overseas included the appointment of a BDM in China Asia Pacific starting last quarter 2014 to capitalise on the growth in warehousing and logistics in this dynamic region of the world.
WLN – What was your company’s single biggest achievement in the last year?
We developed the Flexi PICK layer picking system which has taken us into a completely new market segment, grocery retail and FMCG, our success of this product has resulted in us being nominated for the Fork Lift Truck Association blue ribbon Innovation award. Developments in these new market sectors has demonstrated we can continue to grow rapidly by innovating and providing cost effective truck based intralogistics solutions.
WLN – What are your plans for 2015? Are you planning to bring out any more products or services, move into new markets or enter new countries?
Our product development programme continues, as ever ‘higher, heavier and narrower’, will continue, watch this space as we break the height barrier.
Building on our successful launch into Australia and Brazil in 2014 we will further develop our global network, we are new into China in 2015. With our own representation locally, we then expect to extend our reach into the Asia Pacific region in due course.
WLN – Are you exhibiting at any major trade shows this year?
Only outside the UK, notably Promat USA and Cemat India, however we will also attend a multiple number of ‘regional’ intralogistics events around the world. In a way these are better for our business as we get to talk to the real customers.
WLN – What are your predictions for the industry in 2015?
UK Logistics industry will continue to grow due to the major changes taking place in the retail sector, the move by consumers to ‘online’ orderding, delivery, click and collect and away from large ‘supersotre’ format will accelerate and create many new opportunities for the 3PL sector.
The shortage of newer good quality warehouse sheds will lead to more refurbishing and reconfiguring of older stock. We may even see the concept pf ‘Roof Lifting’ coming to the UK from the USA.
These investments will result in a continued growth in MHE volumes especially products that save space in existing buildings – like our Flexi range!
WLN – What other headline news from your company can our readers look forward to reading about in Warehouse & Logistics News in 2015?
Increasing overseas sales
More apprenticeships on offer
New fifth model generation USA launch at ProMat Show in Chicago, March 2015.
Phone: 0121 557 6242
Email: info@flexi.co.uk
Web: www.flexi.co.uk
LinkedIn: Flexi Narrow Aisle
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