The expansions of cider space
June 1st 2008 Demand for Magners Cider
has led to the rapid
expansion of the company's
Clonmel site in Co. Tipperary,
and Magners has chosen a
fleet of eight Aisle-Master
articulated forklifts to work
there. Formerly,
counterbalance forklifts and
drive-in racking were used,
but the increase in popularity
of Magners meant a rethink
about operations.
"We had to maximise our
warehouse space. Aisle
widths with the
counterbalance forklifts were
4m, and we knew we could
improve on this," says
logistics operations
manager, Raymond Galligan.
"A new warehouse
management system, Aisle-
Master forklifts, racking and
much narrower narrow aisle
widths have vastly improved
storage density and product
location. The Aisle-Masters
have enabled us to achieve a
50% increase in storage
capacity, with no need to
buy extra storage space."
Aisle-Masters are used
throughout the handling
process, from unloading
pallets of empty bottles
through to reloading 80 to
100 lorry loads a day with
pallets of filled bottles for
distribution to markets
around the world. Five trucks
with 10.5m masts are
designated for the three
bottling plants, which can
each fill 55,000 bottles an
hour. These trucks are fitted
with cameras to aid drivers
when picking from very high
racks. The other three Aisle-
Masters with 8.5m masts
work across the three
warehouses with a total of
28,000 pallet spaces. LPG
power means that they can
be filled up quickly with no
down time for battery
charging, which is of major
benefit at peak times. More articles from Aisle-Master Ltd: | 
