Fleet overhaul
August 1st 2008

Since its entry into the warehouse truck market in 1998, Yale has developed a range of warehouse equipment with a succession of new models to complement its counterbalance tucks. It is this 'hands on' approach to materials handling equipment that convinced global transport and logistics company GEFCO that Yale was the right partner to review and replace its lift truck fleet

Awholly owned and autonomous division of Peugeot Citroen Group, GEFCO has operations in 80 countries with 400 sites worldwide.

Coinciding with the opening of a new 20,000 square metre warehouse site at Prologis Park, Yale has supplied GEFCO with a range of the latest 2-3.0 Tonne capacity Veracitor VX engine lift trucks, 3-wheel electric counterbalance trucks and pedestrian powered pallet trucks, as the initial phase of a contract for materials handling equipment.

"We believe that across the three divisions within our group there is no logistics based service that we cannot provide," says Andrew Hill, GEFCO's UK logistics manager.

Andrew Hill is based at the UK headquarters of GEFCO's supply division – a state of the art distribution centre built on a 20 acre site in Coventry. Some 36 different manufacturing companies around the world are supplied from this site.

"Our in-line sequencing service involves supplying parts directly to the manufacturer's production line and, quite simply, if for whatever reason a part is not there on time, the entire production process could stop," explains Andrew Hill.

With such little margin for error it is essential that GEFCO's materials handling equipment operates to the highest standards and at the start of this year, after evaluating the products available on the market, GEFCO placed a major forklift truck order with Yale Europe.

Veracitor versatility At the GEFCO Supply division's Coventry warehouse, a fleet of two tonne capacity LPG-powered Yale Veracitor VX counterbalance trucks is used to unload incoming trailers and deliver palletized loads to a marshalling from where they are picked up and deposited in the racking by reach trucks. For outgoing orders the process is reversed.

Before the switch to Yale products, GEFCO operated 2.5t capacity counterbalanced trucks across all of their sites. Because these trucks had a larger footprint, damage to the curtainsiders was a particular problem that needed to be resolved. Andrew Hill explains: "Because of its smaller capacity and shorter wheelbase, the Yale Veracitor GLP20SVX has solved this problem." This was just one of the recommendations that Yale was able to make following a complete reassessment of the entire materials handling operation across all the nine sites in the GEFCO group.

Cost saving A variety of different products were suggested to meet the varying needs and capacities of the different facilities and, as a result of implementing the changes, GEFCO has been able to make significant savings across its entire forklift fleet.

"Yale completely overhauled our fleet," says Andrew Hill. "We were able to reduce the number of trucks in operation with the resultant cost savings, while at others the introduction of, for example, 3.5 tonne counterbalanced trucks with extended forks to handle unusually shaped stillages, has made a significant difference to our efficiency." GEFCO's decision to choose Yale products for its entire UK operation, was based on: feedback from depot managers and truck operators; the level of service support offering by the supplier and most importantly the total cost of ownership.

Reviewing the performance of Yale, Andrew Hill concludes: "We were extremely impressed with the quality of the Yale product. We trialled a number of different counterbalanced trucks from the leading manufacturers, but Yale's Veracitor VX was, by some distance, the preferred choice of our operators. We are also extremely impressed by Yale's after sales service back-up."

Flexible solutions The Yale range of materials handling equipment is being continually developed to meet customer needs in for every type of application.

The Yale range of counterbalance electric rider lift trucks and warehouse equipment all have the benefit of AC motor technology, MOSFET controllers and CANbus communications systems. From the MP16- 20 powered pallet trucks to the MR16-20HD reach truck with its new heavy duty mast with lift heights to 12 metres.

Yale customers benefit from over £60 million invested annually in research and development. Over 370 research, development and manufacturing engineers are involved in the introduction of every new model from Yale, providing one of the most advanced ranges of materials handling equipment available from a Global manufacturer.

It is this global approach to designing and manufacturing materials handling equipment which has attracted major logistics operators like GEFCO to invest in Yale products and technology as part of its strategic supply chain operations.

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