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■ Hybrid Trucks
A blindingly
obvious choice
When window blind supplier Alutrade Products needed an improvement on the
‘counterbalance for offloading and reach truck inside’ system, it turned to Aisle Master’s
articulated fork lift as an versatile machine to meet its needs.
range of components and fabrics also going out comments: “It was very important for us to find
to customers, the volume of material handled a versatile fork lift capable of keeping pace
on a daily basis is considerable, and with the busy schedule and rapid stock rotation,
straightforward and reliable handling is which could also work both inside and out. The
therefore a crucial element for fulfilling Aisle-Master’s ability to do all of this has been
Alutrade’s commitment to prompt customer very beneficial for our operation and in all it
delivery for just in time support. has been an extremely cost-effective solution.
John Hipkiss, works manager, had a feeling Alutrade’s latest addition to its fleet – the
that there must be an improvement on the company also uses 4-way Combilift fork lifts
‘counterbalance for offloading and reach truck from affiliated Irish manufacturer Combilift
inside’ system, and after consulting Alutrade’s Ltd for handling long lengths of aluminium
local materials handling supplier Abex, he section – has proved to be reliable and robust.
realised he had been correct all along. The Excellent visibility from the cab, high quality
solution came in the form of the articulated suspension seat, adjustable steering column
Aisle-Master fork lift, which can replace both and lack of rear end swing when manoeuvering
other types of fork lifts and works inside and all contribute to a comfortable and safe
out for offloading and direct ‘truck to rack’ operating environment.
movement of goods. Furthermore, its Aisle-Masters can work in aisles of just
An Aisle-Master articulated fork lift articulated design enables working aisle-widths 1.75m, with capacities to 2 tonnes and lift
working at Alutrade Products has to be much narrower than with conventional heights of up to 11.5 metres. Electric and LPG
transformed handling and storage reach trucks, and ‘dead space’ in the form of power is available – all LPG models are fitted
procedures at the company’s headquarters large turning circles at the end of aisles is a with 3-way catalytic converters as standard,
near Droitwich in Worcestershire, and has thing of the past. with CNG power also an option. Build quality
enabled vast savings to be made on storage An electric two tonne capacity 20SE Aisle- and a track record of superb reliability is a key
space in the 30,000 sq ft warehouse. Master was recommended, and since it has feature of the Aisle-Master range. The
Alutrade Products is the largest independent been in operation, Alutrade has been able to company will happily arrange a site visit so
specialist supplier to the rapidly expanding UK install racking in the storage area compared to that its dedicated warehouse planning team can
window blind industry, and distributes one and the previous free stacking system, with a come up with layout proposals on how to
a half thousand tonnes of aluminium head rail resulting increase in storage density in the improve storage.
and roller tube per year. With a complementary palletised goods area of 20 per cent. John www.aisle-master.com
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