Bendi forklift ensures Leon Jaeggi’s fire survival
March 14th 2008 Without the immediate help of a hired Bendi forklift, catering equipment supplier, Leon Jaeggi & Sons, of Ashford, Kent, would have found recovery from a critical fire impossible to sustain, admits their MD.
Last May bank holiday, teenagers set fire to the company’s 32,000ft² premises, which destroyed the entire warehouse, offices and all the stock. Fortunately, the company had a robust disaster recovery plan in place which included concentrating on only 20 of its largest customers and restoring normal service within three weeks. But the plan did not include Bendi articulating forklifts, which at the time of the fire were unknown to the company.
If supplies could not be guaranteed to two of the company’s biggest clients (worth £5m a year) within days of the fire, then that business would have been irretrievably lost, explained Mr Jaeggi, and the family company of 90 years standing consigned to history. Adding to the gloom was his banker’s comment that companies of his size trying to recover from such a catastrophic fire had only a 4% survival chance.
Barely had the fire’s embers been dampened down when the company began moving into different premises 1.5 miles away which were, however, only one third of the size and split over three units. This was all that was available in the area and it was critical to remain in the town to preserve the company’s only remaining asset - its staff.
Nobody believed that the much smaller warehouse units would be enough but with the immediate help of a hired Bendi forklift it was possible almost to double the amount stored, space for space, compared with the previous warehouse, which used two electric counterbalanced forklifts. These two trucks worked in 3.6m wide aisles but the articulated Bendi works in 1.6m aisles. The company also thought a reach truck would help, but this was quickly dropped after the main driver could not fit his long legs comfortably in the truck, and unlike the Bendi the reach truck would have been useless for the essential yard work loading and unloading delivery lorries.
Leon Jaeggi has now replaced the hired Bendi with two new B313 models bought last Autumn from the award-winning Translift Bendi, of Redditch. Equipped with side shift and independently moving forks, they work in 1.9mt wide aisles, lifting 780kg up to 6mt. Transfer aisles are only 2.5mt wide.
Apart from the crucial space-saving issues, so necessary to Jaeggi’s survival, the two Bendi’s confer many other benefits, especially on safety. “As far as I am concerned they are so much better to drive than a normal forklift,” said Mr Jaeggi. “It is more natural to drive on the basis of where the pallet is rather than where the truck is and you can always see the pallet load when interfacing with the racking beams.”
The lower damage factor is another significant advantage. The Bendi has no rear end swing like other truck types and no protruding front wheel legs typical of reach trucks than can cause so much damage to racking.
Its versatility is almost as valuable as its storage space-saving advantage. The Bendi’s large wheels mean that it can work outside on rough yards, a critical need for Jaeggi to unload and load delivery vehicles, which number about 60 a day.
Reviewing the benefits of the Bendi trucks, Mr Jaeggi said that they had already paid for themselves and ensured the survival of the company.
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