FEATURE FORK LIFT TRUCKS COMBILIFTS
DELIVER SPACE SAVING AND MORE FOR LAWSONS TIMBER
Lawsons Timber was one of the first UK builders’ merchants to spot the potential of Combilift’s multidirectional forklifts when the Irish manufacturer launched its original C4000 truck just over 20 years ago. As Lawsons continued to open more branches, it augmented its fleet and now operates around 35 of these versatile, space saving machines. Its latest deliveries from Combilift are electric trucks, in line with a general move towards electric power in a number of sectors
L
awsons is the largest family owned independent timber and builders’
merchants in the South East and was established almost a century ago in 1921. It supplies the area with its wide ranging stock which includes fencing, timber, building and sheet materials, insulation and steel fabrication. It also offers services such as timber processing, treatments and grading, and brick matching. Much has changed since the company’s
infancy when horses, carts and manual labour were used for customer deliveries and timber handling. Lawsons now runs a fleet of approximately 100 vehicles
20 MAY 2019 | MATERIALS HANDLING & LOGISTICS
from 3.5 tonnes to 32 tonnes from its 17 branches in and around London, including a loft lifter for the efficient high level delivery of loft packages. John Lawson came across Combilift’s
C4000 at a trade show in 1999 and saw its potential for space saving operation and its ability to replace a combination of counterbalance and sideloader models, which are much less manoeuvrable, particularly when handling long products in tight spaces. The ability to work in greatly reduced aisle widths is also a major benefit for a company whose premises occupy prime land in and around the city.
Group transport manager, David
Harvey explains: “Most of our branches are in built up areas such as Camden, Acton and Wandsworth, where expansion of sites is nigh on impossible – due to cost issues or the density of surrounding buildings. We can only ‘go up, not out’ with our storage so packing
Once the guys
have been trained on the Combilift,
they never want to drive anything else"
as much stock into any given area is crucial. Being able to configure aisles widths according to the depth of the Combilifts and going up to racking heights of 7.5 m means we can optimise space and cope with growth.” Lawsons’ Combilifts, most of which are 4t C4000 models, handle long products
/ MATERIALSHANDLINGLOGISTICS
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