BULK MATERIALS HANDLING
Sweet success for VNA articulated trucks Part of the growing Zed Candy company,
Tilley’s has been making traditional English boiled sweets since 1885. Due to growing demand for their confectionary products Tilley’s needed more storage space but, as the company’s warehouse unit in Kettering is surrounded by green belt land, developing the overall size of the site was out of the question. From the outset Tilley’s – who had been operating reach trucks in the warehouse – wanted a system that would enable them to store more finished product but would also retain 100 per cent pallet accessibility at ground level for order picking. This meant that drive-in or double deep storage solutions were deemed unsuitable.
A design based around wire-guided VNA trucks was also explored but in the final analysis this was considered too costly to install in the existing building. Having reviewed various options, Tilley’s
project team decided that the most space and cost efficient and productive proposition was a very narrow aisle pallet racking system served by a fleet of Flexi VNA articulated forklifts. As a result of the changes implemented, on site storage capacity has been increased by close to 30 per cent while the number of picking locations available has increased by a similar figure. Tilley’s new warehouse layout is designed around 1.6 metre wide aisleways. Because the Flexi VNA’s chassis is just 1 metre wide, there is enough clearance either side for the truck to travel quickly and safely down these very narrow aisles.
Since its launch last year, the Flexi VNA is proving an attractive alternative to guided VNA trucks. It can work in equally narrow aisles as most VNA trucks and, thanks to its fast work cycles, offers comparable productivity for a fraction of the cost – and, like all trucks in the Flexi range – it has the added advantage of
Certex unveils very large test bench
Certex customers now have access to one of the largest test benches in Northern Europe, thanks to new equipment installed recently in Denmark.
The new bench measures 20.5 metres long with the capacity to test lifting equipment up to 1200 tonnes (pulling force) and dimensions up to 15 metres, and has been installed in a purpose-built facility in the Port of Esbjerg by
Peter Harbo A/S – a member of the Certex International group of companies. This 5 million DKK investment has been made to meet market demand for heavier and bigger constructions that require correspondingly larger lifting devices. Examples of the type of equipment that can be tested using the bench include: steel wire rope; chain, chain accessories, hooks and rings;
crane hooks and blocks; fibre ropes, mooring lines, hawsers, single bouy moorings; as well as lifting beams, brackets and triangles. The new capacity is expected to open up and expand business opportunities in the offshore, wind power, shipping, marine and construction industries, across Northern Europe. Previously larger pieces of equipment would have been out-sourced for testing, so being able to carry out this process in-house will ultimately be time-saving for users. Charles Gillespie, Director of Sales and Marketing at Certex UK, explains that this is one of the advantages of being part of Certex International, a group of companies owned by Forankra International AB, a Swedish subsidiary of Axel Johnson International and one of the market leaders in the supply of lifting and lashing equipment across Europe. “This huge investment was possible thanks to the size and influence of our Swedish mother company, especially at a time when companies in general are holding back on investments which could strengthen their market position.
“Having access to shared equipment and facilities provided within the wider group of Forankra companies means that we can provide better services for our existing customers as well as reach out to new ones,” he said.
The new test bench which is housed in its own purpose-built facility has the capacity to perform the following tests: • Pull test up to 1200 tonnes (direct line pull)
• Breaking test up to 960 tonnes (direct line pull)
• Spreader beam test up to 500 tonnes (angle test).
For more information on the test bench
facility, please contact Certex on 0845 230 7475
www.certex.co.uk
being able to work outside to load and unload trailers.
www.flexi.co.uk
Bulk Solids Today
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