Advertisement feature Cover story BAE’s Combi-CB is the versatile solution
BAE Systems has recently taken delivery of a Combilift Combi-CB forklift which is in operation at its Samlesbury site in the north west of England. The ability of this counterbalance design four-way model to handle pallets, containers as well as long loads has enabled BAE to significantly reduce the number of trucks in its goods- in area for more streamlined, cost effective and safer handling procedures
amlesbury Aerodrome provides BAE Systems with manufacturing and support capabilities to major aircraft programmes including the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F35- Lightning II, the world’s most advanced combat aircraft. Watertight logistics are crucial for the smooth running of the overall operation, and BAE has a long standing relationship with Carrylift Materials Handling, one of the largest forklift truck and materi- als handling companies in the UK. Carrylift supplies BAE Systems with a broad range of handling equipment across the 351 acre site and provides an on-site dedicated maintenance engineer to provide a personal and rapid response to service issues, min- imising downtime.
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Rationalising the fleet Inventory manager Mick Woods wanted to rationalise the forklifts in his section, as the one sideloader and four counterbalance trucks were not being put to effective use, as he explains: “Each machine was only working for a very small percentage of the time, mainly handling one specific product. I was convinced that there were con- siderable advantages to be had if we could find one truck versatile enough to cope with the varied loads we trans- port around the facility.”
Due to BAE Systems’ requirements for an all electric fleet, its stringent focus on safety and limited space to manoeuvre in certain areas, Woods knew that he was looking for a highly specialised vehicle. After consulta- tions with Shaun Kearns, Carrylift’s national sales manager, and a visit to the IMHX trade fair last November he finally found the solution which ticked all the boxes: a 3t capacity AC battery powered Combi-CB. Kearns comments: “BAE Systems is very open to innova-
Materials Handling & Logistics SEPTEMBER 2011
The versatile Combi-CB from Combilift has allowed BAE Systems to ratio- nalise its truck fleet and make consider- able operational savings
tive solutions and we had spent some time on this project. When Combilift introduced electric versions to the CB range it became apparent that this was the answer.”
The Combi-CBs have been cus- tomised according to BAE Systems’ specific require- ments, including being fitted with 1,200mm long forks to facilitate the handling of the packs of timber
Combi-CB benefits The CB’s benefits have been consider- able after just a few weeks of opera- tion. The fleet has already been cut to three forklifts due to the truck’s ability to operate indoors and out, to offload incoming deliveries and reload vehi- cles for dispatch and to work as a side- loader to manoeuvre 6m lengths of timber along a narrow corridor. As part of cost saving initiatives at BAE Systems a reduced fleet was a pri- ority and Woods envisages further sav- ings in due course. “The up front investment in the Combilift will quickly achieve payback as we will be able to do away with more counterbal- ance trucks. Using just the one type of forklift significantly reduces outlay on maintenance and training and the CB’s stability protects very valuable loads from damage. We have also freed up extra storage space that was previously
needed to store the old trucks in what is a relatively tight area.”
Customised according to BAE Systems’ specific requirements, the CB was fitted with 1,200mm long forks to facilitate the handling of the packs of timber. As the weight of all loads needs to be stated for onward delivery, fork mounted weighing scales were also incorporated. Wood has been par- ticularly impressed with the hydraulic fork positioners, which have speeded up the handling of the different sized loads such standard pallets and longer, more cumbersome CIC containers which hold aircraft canopies. The dri- vers can operate this function from within the cab, avoiding the need to get on and off the truck to manually adjust the forks, which contributes to safer working practices.
Operator training
In addition to the Combi-CB Carrylift also provided BAE Systems with a complete operator training solution, provided on site at Samlesbury Aerodrome for convenience and tai- lored to meet the company’s specific needs and safety standards. Woods comments: “Even with Combilift’s flexibility to replace a number of fork trucks, there is absolutely no compromise in its per- formance, whatever mode it is work- ing in. We have been so impressed with the improved operations that we are keen to demonstrate the advan- tages of this system to other BAE Systems facilities and sites.”
Combilift Ltd., Co. Monaghan, Ireland UK Tel: 07870 976 758 Email:
info@combilift.com www.combilift.com
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