Month: May 2019

Drive specialist Nord Drivesystems has created a mobile commissioning and service solution for all of its drives.

In a mobile age, customers increasingly expect mobile solutions for efficient handling of the installed drive technology directly on site. Nord Drivesystems has catered for this requirement and has developed an app for diagnosis, analysis, monitoring and parameterisation of NORD drive systems. The new NORDCON APP together with the NORDAC ACCESS BT Bluetooth stick provide a mobile commissioning and service solution and give users new options for control and optimisation of their NORD drives. This speeds up commissioning, simplifies maintenance and enables faults to be remedied faster. With this, down times and costs can be reduced.

The dashboard-based visualisation is useful for drive monitoring and fault diagnosis. With a help function and rapid access to parameters, parameterisation of drive units is simple and easy. In addition, the app has further practical features such as a backup and recovery function for simple handling of drive parameters, as well as an individually configurable oscilloscope function for analysis of the drive. Video tutorials and the possibility of direct contact with NORD Support additionally assist users in their work.

The NORDAC ACCESS BT acts as a bridge between the drive system and the app. The stick is connected to the software via Bluetooth and is used directly on the frequency inverter. Users therefore have practical access to the drive data and remain in full control of access. The NORDAC ACCESS BT can also be used without the app, for example to save parameter data. If the frequency inverter is damaged or the the drive has to be replaced, the original parameters can be easily uploaded from the stick. Parameter transfer between a drive and a PC is also possible.

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.

Lawsons 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 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 the 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 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 such as 6m packs of timber weighing up to around 3t, and are also universal trucks for handling plasterboard, blocks, bricks and palletised loads, within the racking as well as outside. Most recent additions are two C4000Es at the Merton branch and numerous STEs at Whetstone and Camden. “We are keen to keep emissions as low as we can for the good of the environment, and also to keep noise levels to a minimum for our neighbours in residential areas, and these electric models tick all the boxes on both counts. Electric power is definitely the way forward for us and our drivers also like the quiet operation they offer”.

Driver opinion of handling equipment is not to be underrated and Matt Long, who works at the Merton branch, is full of praise for the C4000E. “The guide rollers on the truck together with guided aisle operation make it so much quicker to access the aisles and speed up picking and placing, and there’s no risk of damaging the products either. Once the guys have been trained on the Combilift they never want to drive anything else.”

“Our first Combilifts are still going strong and have thousands of hours on the clock, with just a refurb or so in the interim for some of the original models,” said David, “which is testament to their robust build and long life expectancy. We also like working with the company as the management and engineers are very open to any feedback we have, take it on board for product refinement, so we know we are getting machines 100% fit for the job.”

UK specialist parcels carrier Tuffnells has launched a new initiative to improve further the health and safety of its drivers and depot colleagues with investment in new technology and systems.

The new health and safety campaign, ‘Think Safety First’, has rolled out nationwide across all 37 depots and Tuffnells has unveiled a new fleet of 14 network trailers with additional safety features, cargo nets and vehicle cameras as part of a range of new safety measures in its health and safety strategy.

New vehicle cargo safety-nets have been installed for protection against falling packages and parcels, thereby improving the levels of colleague safety. The initiative will also see the launch of a range of new Linde counterbalance forklifts and Linde P250 tugs, which will allow for more heavyweight freight to be moved safely around depots. The campaign also sees Tuffnells retro-fitting all its older vehicles with dash-cams.

Agility has signed a two-year logistics partnership agreement with Porsche Motorsports for the eight-weekend Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) racing series. Agility will handle the movement of all cars for the series, organizing shipping, transport and handling of the race cars across Asia-Pacific, as well as spare parts support from Porsche Germany to race sites in Asia-Pacific.

Essa Al-Saleh, President and CEO, Agility Global Integrated Logistics, said: “Our longstanding partnership with the PCCA demonstrates our ability to meet the pressures of race-day conditions, and also shows our strong capacities in automotive logistics – a key vertical for Agility. We’ve been able to meet the exacting requirements of Porsche Motorsports and the teams competing in the past, and will continue to provide high level of service over the course of the partnership.”

The 2019 edition of the PCCA series opened with an official test day March 22 – 24, followed by the first race on April 12-14 in Shanghai, China, and will have 15 30-minute rounds held at six circuits across Asia.

Narrow Aisle Ltd has announced that remanufactured machines in its Flexi ECO AC range of ‘second life’ articulated reach trucks are now offered with the same factory warranty terms as new-build Flexi units.

“Demand for articulated VNA equipment is growing and, as more companies opt to supplement their materials handling fleets with Flexi VNA units, rebuilt trucks offer a highly cost efficient proposition,” says John Maguire, managing director of Narrow Aisle Ltd.

He continues: “Our Flexi ECO AC trucks come with an identical warranty to an equivalent all-new model but cost some 30 per cent less. ‘Second life’ Flexis are proving a particularly popular option for users who acquire materials handling equipment on contract hire packages where all repair and maintenance costs are included in the fixed term, monthly charge.”

Flexi ECO AC trucks feature all new component parts – only the truck chassis, four counterweights and heavy fabrications are re-used – and these components are ND tested and finished to the highest standards at Flexi’s UK manufacturing plant in the MIdlands.

Used Flexi’s that are selected to undergo the ECO AC ‘makeover’ process are completely stripped down. All the original major direct components are graded and either disposed of or reworked for onward sale to the service exchange spare parts market.

Once passed fit for re-use, the cast and steel body parts are cleaned and finished before joining the Flexi production line, where all-new componentry – including pumps, motors, all hydraulic parts and the latest Zapi AC motor technology – is introduced.

John Maguire says: “Some 80 per cent of all materials handling equipment operating in the UK is contract hired for a fixed period. This means that there is a constant flow of used end-of-contract equipment returning to distributors and dealers. These products are then added to rental fleets or sold on as used trucks to an end customer, often with lower utilisation levels, and in due course the trucks reach end of their economic life.

“The Flexi product is very different. Our trucks are built with heavy gauge steel plate, ‘I-beams’ and four cast counterweights. This means that even after 10 years of hard use the heavy chassis components are able to be reconditioned to the latest specification. This process saves a great deal of primary and secondary manufacturing costs, which, in turn, dramatically cuts the amount of CO² generated during the total manufacturing process.”