Month: April 2019

Combilift added another industry award to its tally when its Combi-PPT model won the Safety Category at the UK’s  FLTA Awards for Excellence 2019 in March.

The Combi-PPT is a high performance pedestrian operated powered pallet truck, the first model of which was designed following a very specific request from a Combilift customer wanting to enhance operational safety and material flow in its manufacturing facilities. This proved to be so successful that the Combi-PPT was put into serial production last year and models with capacities from 3,000kg up to 16,000kg are now available.

Its design and features such as AC powered drive, steer and lifting technology enable very large and bulky products to be manoeuvred with ease in confined spaces without the use of a ride-on forklift. Above all, it can also do this whilst ensuring maximum safety when working in areas where other personnel may be present, in busy production plants for example, thanks to Combilift’s, patented multi-position tiller arm. This incorporates tiller and operator offset position with the touch of a button and enables excellent visibility from the side of the truck, also reducing any crush risk to the operator when working in tight spaces. According to the FLTA “the jury was impressed by the PPT’s large capacity and its potential to replace counterbalance trucks, improving safety in pedestrian areas.”

Mark Whyte, Combilift’s R&D manager, accepted the “Archie” trophy from Andrea Maneti of the category sponsor Trelleborg. Combilift’s MD Martin McVicar commented: “We have won a number of awards from the FLTA over the years for innovation, design achievement, ergonomics as well as the unique Winner of Winners Gold Award in 2012. In the 25th year of the awards we are proud to have been recognised for our ongoing commitment to safer materials handing with the introduction of the Combi-PPT into our product range.”

Cascade Corporation and Meijer Handling Solutions B.V., global leaders in the material handling industry, have announced the establishment of Cascade-KOOI, a joint venture in North America.

Cascade-KOOI will offer productivity-enhancing material handling equipment including, the well-known KOOI-REACHFORKS® (hydraulic and manual ReachForks), ROLLERFORKS®, Single Height Shift System and Mast Height Extension systems to the North American market. These versatile products offer increased efficiency for lift truck operators in logistics, warehousing, and more, including improved intralogistics.

“We are very excited to launch this new joint venture,” says Hendrik Meijer, CEO of Meijer Handling Solutions. “Many people have worked hard to make this idea a reality and we are glad that Cascade Corporation and Meijer Handling Solutions can work together to provide high quality products and service to North American customers.”

As a joint venture, Cascade-KOOI is owned and managed equally by Cascade Corporation and Meijer Handling Solutions. The Cascade sales group will act as the point of contact for customers of Cascade-KOOI. Both companies will continue their respective operations as normal outside the scope of the Cascade-KOOI joint venture, including regions outside of North America.

“The KOOI family of products meet a high standard of quality, offering reliable and efficient material handling,” says Cascade Corporation CEO Davide Roncari. “With Cascade’s extensive network in North America, we are able to bring together these quality products and efficient distribution in order to meet customer needs in the best way possible.”

Cascade Corporation and Meijer Handling Solutions both value customers as a fundamental priority to their operations and view the creation of Cascade-KOOI as a beneficial new way to serve the materials handling industry. Both companies look forward to a strong and successful partnership in Cascade-KOOI.