ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK & Ireland is the UK’s leading supplier of safety and security door and window solutions for commercial, institutional and residential customers. For the past couple of years the company has used two Aisle Master articulated forklifts to ensure efficient storage and handling procedures at its Cheltenham site. It also more recently took delivery of a Combi-CS pedestrian counterbalance stacker which works mainly in one of the manufacturing areas.
The Cheltenham facility specialises in the production of metal hardware for windows such as hinges, locks and handles, and comprises manufacturing and assembly areas together with two storage bays for components and finished products. The Aisle Masters were brought in on the advice of Mike Oseland of Briggs Equipment, who recognised that these could help to cut the amount of MHE on site. Their ability to work inside and out, for example, means that they can replace a combination of reach and counterbalance forklifts, offload deliveries and bring goods directly into the racking.
This has been particularly beneficial in the finished goods store and, coupled with the trucks’ narrow aisle capability, has enabled extra space to be created within the building to incorporate a test laboratory. Aisle widths between bays that were once 3.1m wide to allow reach truck access are now just 1.9m. In the component storage area, the 1.5t 15NE models work in existing aisle widths of just 1.73m, picking Europallets weighing up to 1t to a height of 6m and taking them to the shop floor.
The Combi-CS also gets top marks from Tooling Technician Carl Strout, one of the operators of this compact pedestrian truck, which is used primarily to exchange the bolster plates on the tooling presses. “It’s the best bit of kit we’ve had here for the job,” he said. “Training on it was straightforward, it’s simple to operate and all-round visibility makes for easy handling of loads. It’s also multi-purpose and I have used it for other lifting jobs. ”
The 1,000kg capacity Combi-CS replaced a conventional forklift and was recommended by Mike Oseland following the successful introduction of a Combilift pedestrian model at another ASSA ABLOY site. “These stackers are a great alternative to ride-on forklifts as they can manoeuvre much more easily around the narrow confines between the presses and other workstations”, he said. “Operation at walking speed enhances health and safety, particularly in busy manufacturing areas where a lot of personnel are in the vicinity. The patented tiller arm on these models also ensures that operators can stand to the side of the machine to avoid any crush risk when they are working in tight spaces.”
Comments are closed.