Reach trucks 'ready to go'
October 1st 2010 Refurbished reach trucks played a key
role as logistics provider Eezehaul moved
to a larger warehouse
Eezehaul chose refurbished reach trucks from
Jungheinrich's 'Ready to Go' range when it moved to a
larger warehouse. The trucks were rebuilt at
Jungheinrich's specialist used truck refurbishment centre in
Dresden, Germany.
"Because trucks in our 'Ready To Go' range are rebuilt to the
same high quality at the Dresden facility, they offer a very cost
effective proposition for the operation, which means that these
fully refurbished models will give many years of efficient and
productive service," says Steve Richmond, general manager
Jungheinrich's Systems & Projects Division.
The reach trucks were part of a broad ranging warehouse
revamp coordinated by Jungheinrich.
Crawley-based based logistics firm Eezehaul took the decision
in 2008 to move to a new facility. The new 80,000 sq ft unit
stands on five acres of land close to the M25/M23 motorways.
While it had been originally designed and used as a
distribution centre, the site had most recently been used as a car
showroom and store. This meant that it required considerable
development work before it was suitable for Eezehaul's needs.
"Our original warehouse was around 30,000 sq ft," explains
Simon Duggan, Eezehaul's commercial director. "We looked
around for other sites that offered greater capacity but purpose
built units of the size that we wanted are relatively scarce in the
South East. The new facility has nine loading docks – which is
ideal – but it needed additional office space, racking and other
cosmetic changes."
One of the first phases in the redevelopment project was the
design and build of a racked storage area. After an open tender
process, the contract to supply and install the racking scheme
was awarded to Jungheinrich UK.
Providing over 5000 pallet locations, the top beam of the
racking structure at Eezehaul's new warehouse is 7.8 metres high
and the aisles are 3.1 metres wide. The company had considered
condensing the aisles to accommodate more space but because
Eezehaul undertakes case picking at ground level while full
pallets are picked from the upper levels, wider aisles were
considered a better option as the extra width means that both
functions can take place efficiently and safely.
Eezehaul also needed to upgrade its forklift truck fleet. At its
old site the company had operated diesel powered trucks but,
with Eezehaul's business accredited to ISO 14001 – the
environmental management system standard - these were to be
replaced with more environmentally-friendly electric-powered
models.
Also, because the new warehouse unit is close to a residential
area, quiet running electric-powered models would be able work
in to the early hours of the morning without causing disruption
to the company's neighbours.
Furthermore, Eezehaul needed trucks that could operate for
two shifts on one battery charge, as Simon Duggan explains:
"We have lots of forklift truck movements. For our pallet
network activities we unload double deck trailers and cross dock
loads before loading pallets on to delivery vehicles. This work
tends to peak in the early hours of the morning and again in the
evening. At other times throughout the day the trucks are used
to de-stuff incoming containers and put away loads in the pallet
racking."
Eezehaul opted for electric-powered counterbalance, reach
and stand-on pallet trucks from Jungheinrich.
The counterbalance trucks are from Jungheinrich's EFG
range. In most applications, a truck will operate for two shifts
without the need for a battery change.
Jungheinrich was also able to demonstrate that during a
typical shift an EFG truck will operate for up to half an hour
longer before a battery change is required than certain
competitors. In Eezehaul's case, this could equate to de-stacking
an extra lorry load.
To further enhance efficiency and reduce truck downtime the
EFG trucks' battery can be quickly and easily topped up during
one- and two-shift operation: the battery door opens sideways
to enable the battery to be pulled out with a hand pallet truck to
make topping up and routine maintenance tasks easy.
Counterbalance trucks are used with stand-on pallet trucks to
unload trailers and containers. Loads passing through the hub as
part of Eezehaul's pallet network activity are either transferred
to a cross docking area or an outgoing vehicle. Pallets for storage
are driven to racking were they are placed in a marshalling area
before being put away by two refurbished Jungheinrich ETV
reach trucks. IMHX Stand
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