Day: 27 April 2020

Long-term Flexi warehouse truck user, Polyco Healthline, has hired an additional four trucks from Narrow Aisle Ltd to support increased demand generated by the COVID-19 situation to supply the NHS with products from its range of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

Polyco is among the largest suppliers of protective products to the NHS and the London-based company, which has a distribution centre near Peterborough, has employed a fleet of Flexi VNA warehouse trucks for over 14 years.
Flexi articulated VNA trucks designed and built by Narrow Aisle Ltd give Polyco the performance edge they need by facilitating a highly efficient, low-cost dense storage solution which enables fast and safe pallet movements within its operation.

With an ability to work within very narrow aisle racking layouts, Flexi articulated trucks achieve high volume throughputs by stacking and retrieving pallets – which eliminates the need for time wasting ‘pick and deposit’ stations at aisle ends. At sites where traditional ‘guided Man Up’ VNA systems are deployed, these handover points rely on the use of additional forklifts to transfer the palletised loads between the aisle end ‘pick and deposit’ locations and the goods-in and goods-out zones – a process which incurs costly ‘double handling’ expenses.

Steve McCarthy, logistics manager at Polyco Healthline, said: “Hiring additional Flexis for our fleet will be of significant help as we scale up supply to meet the vital needs of the NHS at this critical time. As Flexi provide all of our handling needs, we do not need to source additional materials handling equipment from elsewhere.”

Narrow Aisle managing director, John Maguire, commented: “We are particularly glad to support our customer Polyco Healthline in meeting this essential need under such exceptional circumstances. We would also like to thank our team at the Tipton factory for their amazing response to the crisis and helping deliver these and other customers in the retail supply chain with mission-critical equipment.”

With Truck Tek AS, Clark Europe has found a new sales partner for Norway and thus strengthened its market presence in Scandinavia.

“We are delighted to have found in Truck Tek a strong partner for Norway, who will competently support our customers in this region”, explains Rolf Eiten, President & CEO Clark Europe GmbH. “With this strategic partnership we are well equipped for the future in Norway and can further expand our presence on the Scandinavian market.”

Truck Tek AS was founded in 1988 and has made a name for itself as a supplier of hydraulic cranes, hydraulic components and services – such as authorized inspections, certification and mechanical and hydraulic repairs. Truck Tek is also a qualified workshop of the Norwegian Maritime Directorate and has experts in loading and unloading ship equipment. The company is based in Gårdsøya, Brønnøysund in the Norwegian municipality of Brønnøy. Brønnøysund is located on the Norwegian coast and is the landing place for Hurtigruten vessels. In addition to the administrative area, the location in Gårdsøya includes spacious workshop facilities and a spare parts warehouse. Just a stone’s throw away is a deep-water jetty and a floating dock. The strategically favorable location – in the heart of Norway and close to the motorway and airport – plays into the cards with the claim to be as close to the customer as possible.

Competent full-service provider

With the addition of Clark materials handling vehicles to its product portfolio, Truck Tek aims to be a leading provider of products and services for the offshore and onshore sector by offering customers the complete range of services all from one supplier.

As a Clark partner, Truck Tek will distribute the entire Clark product range in Norway. In addition to all forklift classes and warehouse equipment, this includes all accessories and spare parts as well as a comprehensive range of services including rental, financing and service for Clark new and used materials handling vehicles. With a total of 14 employees, mobile service locations and several partners in Norway, the company ensures professional sales with advice and customer care as well as fast service.

Linde Material Handling’s Remanufacturing Centre in Velké Bílovice near Brno (Czech Republic), which was only opened in autumn 2017, is being expanded. Up to 2,000 trucks per year are to be remanufactured on an area of 6,700 square metres – an expansion of 48 percent. The used trucks have a uniform quality standard and contribute to greater sustainability.

Almost all trucks that are remanufactured in Velké Bílovice are recruited from returns from Linde’s own long- and short-term rental fleet. This means that the trucks have been continuously serviced by qualified technicians during their “first forklift life” and have a fully documented service history. Only original Linde spare parts are used for repairs.

In Velké Bílovice, used trucks are remanufactured according to a standardized procedure. Not only is damage repaired, but each vehicle is put through its paces by specially trained specialists and passes through several stations. Once the trucks leave the remanufacturing center, they meet all the relevant safety requirements of European legislation in the field of handling technology and are awarded the “Approved by Linde” seal of approval.

The fact that the trucks are given a “second life” by the remanufacturing process also means a significant plus in terms of sustainability. On the one hand, the total amount of raw materials and energy required is considerably reduced. On the other hand, disposal and recycling in the reprocessing plant meet the highest environmental and health standards.

Christophe Lautray, Chief Sales and Service Officer at Linde Material Handling: “Linde used trucks are a high-quality and cost-effective alternative for our customers. The trucks can also be equipped with additional features – such as our safety assistance systems”.

The number of employees in the Velké Bílovice processing plant has almost doubled to 70 in the last three years. The plant is one of several Linde Material Handling locations in the Czech Republic. Linde Pohony (LiPo) produces steering axles and electric and hydrostatic drive axles for the KION Group at Český Krumlov. The JULI joint venture, also located near Brno, is active in the production of electric motors, and since 2016, Linde reach trucks have been manufactured in Stříbro at Pilsen.