Handling Network Autumn 2020

AUTUMN

IFOY Award 2020 Winners Announced

AUTUMN 2020 NEWS 1

Irish Exporters Association Western Network Groups discuss hub network in the region The Irish Exporters Association has set up online monthly Regional Network group meetings to ensure that its members in the Western, Southern and Midlands regions of Ireland have a regular platform to discuss COVID-19 issues arising from the pandemic as well as Brexit preparedness planning.

The monthly meetings strengthen the connection between the IEA and its regional members. The gatherings are an opportunity for business networking and are a means to finding collaborative solutions within the business community to current challenges. They directly contribute to the IEA’s communications and public affairs work.

The IEA Western Regional Network group recently held a virtual meeting with the Western Development Commission to discuss the Atlantic Economic Corridor Enterprise Hub Project. The AEC Enterprise Hubs Project is a three-year project to create an interconnected community network

from the 101 hubs identified as either operating or in development in the AEC region. With a greater number of the Irish workforce working from home, the AEC project has grown in importance to facilitate remote working.

In a submission to the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment’s public consultation on Guidance for Remote Working, the IEA has called for the expansion of the hub network with high speed broadband connectivity, that is in line with health and safety and confidentiality rules. The IEA believes that the hub network should be considered as a feasible remote working solution for employers.

The Western Network group also discussed COVID-19 measures that businesses need at present and Brexit preparedness planning. The group will e-meet on the third Thursday of every month from September.

Hiab’s Strategy to Increase Network Coverage Wins

Hiab’s strategy to increase network coverage across the UK and Ireland is paying dividends as more businesses invest in reducing downtime.

To keep trucks moving, a 150-strong team of professional support engineers are on hand to support drivers who have an issue with a Hiab crane or demountable when on the road.

Managing Director for Hiab UK & Ireland Ian Mitchell said the on-road support differentiated them in the market place, proving to be a deciding factor when investing in cranes and specialist on-road handling equipment.

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Upcoming meets are scheduled for the following dates: • • • •

Thursday 17th September, 4 - 5pm Thursday 22nd October, 4 - 5pm Thursday 19th November, 4 - 5pm Thursday 17th December, 4 -5pm

For more information about the Regional Network groups or to register your interest to getting involved contact: AnnMarie O’Brien,IEA Public Affairs and Communications Officer; Email: annmarieobrien@irishexporters.ie

“One of the biggest strengths we have in the UK and Ireland is our network coverage. We have access to 150 highly-trained field engineers among our sales dealers and service agents; this level of coverage gives us a leading edge over the competition and it’s paying off as we are seeing businesses choosing Hiab as a result,” Ian said.

“Thanks to the number of Hiab field service engineers, we are confident that any downtime is minimised so we can continue to deliver for our customers.”

Regional Manager for Hiab, Ian Bebb added: “Our customers are never more than an hour away from one of our service engineers. Reducing downtime and having confidence in the support network is a big part of our plan to become the number one partner of choice for suppliers.”

HIAB Service Agents - Ireland Gleeson Steel & Engineering, Thurles, County Tipperary Cahir House Machinery, Cahir, County Tipperary TSS, Ballycoolin, Dublin TSS, Ballysimon, County Limerick TSS, Hillsborough, County Down Dennison Commercials Ltd., Ballyclare, County Antrim HIAB Sales Dealers - Ireland Gleeson Steel & Engineering, Thurles, County Tipperary Cahir House Machinery, Cahir, County Tipperary MAW Engineering, Toomebridge, County Antrim

AUTUMN 2020 NEWS 2

The Wood Pallet Industry - 4 Common Misconceptions Although wooden pallets are common in various workplaces, many misconceptions continue to exist about them. You might hear people complain about the increasing carbon footprint, copious amounts of wood pallets in landfills or limited usage options when speaking of wood pallets. Dublin headquartered Oliver Conroy Pallets is dedicated to educating and informing anyone who might come across pallets in the workplace or in personal life. Here the supplier of wooden and heat-treated pallets in Ireland and the UK offers advice on some of the misconceptions relating to pallets.

Myth #1: Pallets Are Not Environmentally Friendly Of course, trees are essential for human well-being and everyone knows about their importance for our nature and wildlife. However, wood is a natural and renewable resource which makes it the best material for pallets. Wooden pallets are 100% recyclable and the industry is very close to achieving the zero-waste benchmark. Additionally, after the pallet

has served its initial purpose, the owner can resell it to a pallet repair company.

Myth #2: Wood Pallets Fill Up Landfills They aren’t allowed into Landfill.

This is one the most crucial myths in the industry which needs clarification. A recently conducted study by Virginia Tech found that 95% of wood pallets are being recycled. In fact, the study claims that the overall appearance of wood pallets in landfills has decreased. Wooden pallets are used, repaired if necessary, reused, or converted into mulch, animal bedding or biofuel when they are no longer useful.

Myth #3: Wood Pallets Contribute to Deforestation Yes, wood pallets are made from new lumber. However, pallet companies often use these same pallets over and over again by repairing their damaged components.

When a pallet becomes unrepairable, it is shredded into mulch or other recycled materials.

TEXT: Rob Van Dieten – rob@fleet.ie

Recyclability and the impact on the environment are extremely important nowadays when considering packaging and shipping materials. Wood pallets may not seem to be the best option at first, but businesses should take a closer glance at the benefits of choosing them for their operations *Oliver Conroy Pallets is a family business built on excellence, high quality products and superb customer service. Established over 60 years ago, the business is a leading supplier of wooden and heat-treated pallets in Ireland and the UK and is based at the Robinhood Industrial Estate, Dublin 22.

Myth #4: New Pallets are the Best Pallets To clarify, recycled pallets can be

MPM Specialist Vehicles appointed Tuffa Tanks agents for Ireland MPM Specialist Vehicles (formerly McCluskey Plant & Machinery) which supplies specialist vehicles for the Transportation, Construction and Fire & Rescue industries has been appointed Irish agent for Tuffa Tanks.

The family owned business, with its head office based in Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast on the A1 to Dublin, covers all of Ireland as sole affiliated dealer, with its product lines including Terberg Shunter Trucks, Terberg Kinglifter Truck Mounted Forklifts and Seacom Trailers. MPM also represents Western Global fuels storage and transportation products, and Cemo storage boxes.

Mark McCluskey, Managing Director, MPM Specialist Vehicles also highlighted that his firm recently commenced supplying specialist vehicles and equipment to the Fire and Rescue sectors and “We continue to export used Construction Equipment throughout Europe,” he said.

Tuffa Tanks is an established Original

as good as new pallets. The ISPM15 standard ensures that the wood pallets are sterilised through heat treatment. Furthermore, you can save a substantial amount of money by using recycled or repaired pallets instead of new ones, while also doing something good for the environment.

Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) with many years’ experience producing industrial, commercial and domestic bulk liquid storage tanks. The Tuffa range of products is extensive and diverse, manufacturing items to client’s specifications, offering technical support and advice to customers. From its Uttoxeter Staffordshire manufacturing facility, it can provide liquid storage in plastic and steel from 1,350 litres and produce a rotomoulded tank of 20,000 litres in a single unit. Its design enables up to 100,000 litres to be interlinked for maximum storage for any bulk liquid.

Tuffa Tanks are designed in the interest of pollution control. They comply with Environmental Agency Guidelines, and are manufactured to European Standards and depending on the application, Building Regulations. The Fire Protection range of tanks has Local Authority Building Control (LABC) system approval for domestic and non-domestic applications up to 60,000 litres with up to two-hour Fire Protection.

In addition to moulded tanks, Tuffa can provide tanks in steel, including stainless steel, where the contents present severe corrosion challenges; these are particularly suitable in the chemical sector.

A claim to fame for Tuffa is that the company was commissioned by the BAFTA award-winning film, Philomena, to re-create vintage steel bath tubs for its set.

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AUTUMN 2020 case study 1

Lynas takes on Axiom to automate Lusk DC

Lynas Foodservice Group is one of Ireland’s largest food distributors, offering frozen, chilled, ambient and non-food products to hotels, restaurants and take-aways throughout Ireland and Scotland.

Established in 1978, Lynas is still a family owned business. With some 540 staff it now has over 5,000 customers and offers over 6,000 products. Founded in Coleraine, the firm opened its first cross-dock for its Republic of Ireland business in 2008. More recently it took on premises in Lusk, County Dublin for an automated Distribution Centre (DC).

Alastair Magee, Finance & IT Director of Lynas explained about the ongoing developments at the company: “We

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needed a solution to free up capacity in the Coleraine DC where we hold all our stock. The automation which was installed there six years ago has been largely successful, however problems began as our business grew in the Republic of Ireland. We were getting a bigger and bigger bottleneck in the system during the early part of our evening as we re-routed product for that market.”

Lynas decided to move bulk products destined for the Republic to Dublin. This would involve re-sorting stock at the new Lusk site, with an automation system supplied by Axiom.

“The Axiom solution technically appealed to us as the best because

of its simplicity and scalability,” says Alastair. “One of the key factors was the values that we saw in Axiom which matched our own… My MD felt that he could relate well to Matthew Nickson, Axiom’s MD, because both companies are family owned and run so we understand each other in that regard.”

Operations begin at the Lusk DC at 10pm, after the trucks from Coleraine have been unloaded. Up to 45 products per minute are manually loaded onto an infeed conveyor, including boxes, tins, sacks, packs of drinks and even tubs of ice cream. The Axiom sorter can handle any shape of product up to 500mm long and for those items that are nonconveyable, trays are used.

A combination of roller and belt conveyors move products to the sorter where it passes below a camera system. Here the barcode is read and an image is taken of the product and label. The barcode data is then passed to the automation control system (ACS).

Both the ACS and programmable logic controller (PLC) communicate with Lynas’ head office system to track the items along the sorter and determine each product’s destination.

Swivel wheel sorters divert individual products to their sort lane. If any problems are detected the product bypasses the eleven sorter lanes and is routed back as an error onto a dump lane which runs underneath the sorter lanes back to the loading area at the start of the system.

Sorted products are manually offloaded from the end of the lanes and palletised ready for immediate onward despatch in the waiting trucks direct to customers.

Alastair described the benefits: “The key benefits are firstly the speed that we can re-sort products in relation to what it would take for a manual team to do it and secondly the accuracy of the sortation. The accuracy is driven by our own barcodes which not only dictate the outfeed lane the product is going to go to, but how it will be positioned properly within the load. So it’s not just a good warehouse experience it’s a good driver experience too. These are things that you can do with automation that you cannot easily achieve with human interference.”

Text: Johanna Parsons - contributor@fleet.ie

AUTUMN 2020 IFOY awards

Winners of the IFOY AWARD 2020 announced Congratulations to Bosch Rexroth, Combilift, Crown, EasyMile, Sany Europe, Still and Wiferion

The International Intralogistics & Forklift Truck of the Year (IFOY) AWARD honours the best intralogistics

products and solutions of the year.

The overall decision in electing the winners is based on the three-stage audit - consisting of a IFOY test protocol comprising around 80 criteria, the scientific IFOY Innovation Check, and Jury participation in an extensive Test Days programme. The decisive factor is that the nominees are not compared with each other, but with their competitors’ equipment on the market.

The IFOY AWARD’s independent international jury is made up of specialist journalists from all over the world, with Fleet Transport/Handling Network representing Ireland.

For the 2020 IFOY AWARDS, the organisers staged a Hollywood-style virtual award ceremony at the Hannover Messe, Germany in July. Its animation team created ‘I-T20’ a flying robot, short

for ‘IFOY Transformer 2020’, which transformed into the categories of the world’s largest intralogistics award, during the live on-line ceremony. When the I-T20 ‘beamed’ the trophies to the winners, pre-recorded messages of gratitude were presented by the winners from their home bases.

“Special times require special solutions, and transformation theme was is the key to its success. This year’s award ceremony set a visible sign for the power of transformation. It was dedicated to the best innovations in intralogistics, and moreover to the people who make logistics happen,” said Anita Würmser, Executive Chairperson of the Jury, at the award ceremony. Listed below are this year’s winners together with feedback from the jury. www.handling-network.com

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AUTUMN 2020 IFOY awards

Decisive factor in the jury’s decision was the easy commissioning in combination with the high market relevance and the high quality. “The innovation lies in the design of the Locator, which is specifically geared to current market requirements. The Locator is an interesting innovation both for the automation of standard industrial trucks and for manufacturers of special solutions, as it decouples them from the development of expertise in the field of environment-based localization. It thus enables new manufacturers of automated guided vehicles to easily enter the market,” the jury stated.

Category: Intralogistics Software of the Year 2020 Winner: Locator – Laser Localization Software, Bosch Rexroth AG

The IFOY AWARD 2020 in the ‘Intralogistics Software’ category goes to Bosch Rexroth for the Locator – Laser Localization Software. The international jury selected the localization software based on laser distance measurement as the best new release among intralogistics software solutions.

IFOY 2020 Winner, Intralogistics Software category (from left): Christopher Parlitz, Head of Development Intralogistics, Jörg Heckel, Project Director Intralogistics Robotics.

which was presented in February last year, as the best new release among the Lowlifter warehouse trucks.

Decisive factors for the jury’s decision were the high customer benefit and the professional implementation. “The Combi-CS offers significant added value in terms of operation and safety in confined spaces and thus solves a widespread problem. Implemented in solid Combilift quality, the vehicle is a very user-oriented solution with a high market relevance”, the jury wrote.

Category: Warehouse Truck Lowlifter Winner: Combi-CS, Combilift Ltd. 38

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The ‘Warehouse Truck - Lowlifter’ category winner is the Combi-CS from Monaghan based manufacturer Combilift.

The international jury selected the pallet truck with a load capacity of one tonne and a lifting height of 2500 millimetres,

IFOY 2020 Winner, Warehouse Truck Lowlifter - Martin McVicar, Managing Director, Combilift.

AUTUMN 2020 IFOY awards

Winner: ESR 1000, Crown Gabelstapler GmbH & Co. KG

Category: Warehouse Truck Highlifter

The winner of the ‘Warehouse Truck Highlifter’ is the Crown ESR 1000. The adjudication panel selected the 2.5 tonne capacity reach truck, presented in 2019, as the best newcomer among warehouse trucks in the Highlifter segment.

The decisive factors for the jury’s decision were the innovations in the areas of sustainability, ergonomics and safety, which are consistently geared towards high customer benefit, as well as the performance data of the truck. “Outstanding is the Xpress Lower Technology, which doubles the lowering speed, and the energy recovery during lowering, which reduces energy consumption by up to eleven percent.

The productivity gain for the user can be up to 21 percent.”

IFOY 2020 Winner, AGV & Intralogistics Robot category: EasyMile team with the TractEasy.

Category: AGV & Intralogistics Robot Winner: TractEasy, EasyMile SAS

Category: Special Vehicle

Victorious in the AGV & Intralogistics Robot classification was the TractEasy of the French manufacturer EasyMile.

The international jury selected the autonomous electric tow tugger for

Winner: SRSC45H9 Hybrid Reach Stacker, Sany Europe GmbH

IFOY 2020 Winner, Warehouse Truck Highlifter category: Christian Baerwolff,Senior Director European Engineering & Product Development, with ESR 1000. indoor and outdoor operation as the best new release among AGVs. Decisive factors were the universal applicability and the quality of the implementation. “Autonomous vehicles are not new, but until now their use has mostly been limited to warehouse or production environments. In addition, the vehicles often place high demands on floor quality. The outdoor area is a particular challenge for autonomous vehicles. Especially for transports between company buildings, considerable savings could be realized through automation due to the greater distances involved. The TractEasy closes this gap. It is very well thought out, extremely professionally implemented and enables flexible automation of logistics processes in both indoor and outdoor areas.”

Winner of the ‘Special Vehicle’ class was the Sany SRSC45H9. The Chinese manufacturer of the hybrid reach stacker for full box containers, launched in February last year, was deemed as the best new release in the market segment.

The jury was impressed with its energy efficiency and the intelligent use of known technologies for greater customer benefit. “The SRSC45H9 from Sany Europe more than meets the high demands on reach stackers. Various professionally implemented innovations offer the user great advantages in terms of productivity, fuel consumption, ergonomics and safety”.

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AUTUMN 2020 IFOY awards

Category: Counter Balanced Truck Winner: RX 60, Still GmbH

Category: Start-up of the Year Winner: etaLINK 3000, Wiferion GmbH 40

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The best ‘Counter Balanced Truck’ was deemed to be the new Still RX 60. The Hamburg headquartered company’s electric forklift truck with a lifting capacity of 2.5 tonnes, introduced last October, secured most points among the counter balanced trucks in the final analysis.

Wiferion, formerly Blue Inductive, won the ‘Start-up of the Year’ award with its etaLINK 3000. As the first market-ready and 100 percent contactless wireless charging system for industrial electric

Its innovative overall package and the outstanding handling performance was confirmed in all test series. “With the RX 60-25 in the high-performance version, Still breaks all records and sets the bar for electric trucks in this segment much higher. The counter balanced truck is quiet, easy to operate and manoeuvrable.

It also scores points for its lower power consumption costs compared to diesel or gas, as well as its low maintenance requirements. Never before has an electric forklift truck been so productive and such a serious alternative to combustion engines”.

“The result is an exemplary solution with improved features in terms of ergonomics, performance and safety.”

That is also the verdict of the scientific Innovation Check. It certifies that the powerful vehicle has been implemented at a professional level.

vehicles, it faired strongest in a strong line-up of start-up companies in the competition.

The jury’s marks went to the etaLINK 3000’s outstanding customer benefits and high market relevance in combination with equally high product quality. “The etaLINK 3000’s inductive charging system is a fully operational innovation that can revolutionise everyday life in the warehouse enormously and significantly reduce costs for companies,” the jury wrote.

The system for the automatic CAN-controlled charging of modern battery systems enables fast and flexible installation by means of base plates, which no longer requires any infrastructure measures. The charging process starts in less than a second.

Once this is complete, the driverless transport system or the forklift truck can continue and the system switches off automatically.

Text: Jarlath Sweeney - editor@fleet.ie

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AUTUMN 2020 case study 2

Safer Handling with Combilift

Combilift’s Combi-CS Since Combilift was established, a cornerstone of the Monaghan-based company’s design philosophy has been to supply innovative handling solutions that reduce risk and prevent accidents.

As well as enabling space saving and productive handling of loads of various sizes and dimensions, more secure and safer handling is cited by many customers as the reason why they opted for a Combilift product over other types of forklifts.

“Our commitment to this has also been recognised by industry associations such as the Forklift Truck Association (FLTA) and British Industrial Truck Association (BITA), from whom we have received safety awards for our models or features that we have developed and incorporated into our products,” commented Martin McVicar, Managing Director, Combilft/Aisle-Master.

“Let’s take a closer look at some of our individual models and how they contribute to enhanced safety procedures in the warehouse, production facilities and for loading and offloading materials.

And you can also hear from some of our satisfied customers too,” he added.

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Safer pedestrian truck operation with Combilift’s multi-position tiller arm (Combi-CS) Combilift’s reputation for designing innovative products and features which enhance materials handling safety was recognised once again last year when it won the Industrial Vehicles Category of the BITA (British Industrial Truck Association) Design4Safety Awards.

This was for its unique, patented multiposition tiller arm - a feature common to all its pedestrian models. It was designed to ensure maximum safety for the operator and other personnel who may be in the area where the trucks are operating, whilst enabling productive picking and placing of products in narrow aisles. The tiller arm can be turned to the left or right of the truck and enables push button rotation of the rear wheel parallel to the chassis and back again. It allows the operator to remain in the safest possible position when working in narrow aisles - at the side of the truck rather than at the rear as is the case with other pedestrian trucks.

This reduces the risk of the operator being crushed or trapped between the truck and the racking. The operator’s sight line is not impeded by having to look through the mast, guaranteeing

full visibility of the load, the forks and the surroundings, for greater awareness and therefore safety, not only for the operator but also for any other personnel or members of the public nearby. The tiller arm also incorporates a monitor which clearly displays the rear wheel position on Combilift’s growing range of pedestrian models such as the multidirectional Combi-WR4, the Combi-CS counterbalance stacker and the Combi-PPT powered pallet truck.

Safer Long Load Handling with Combilift working Indoor and Outdoor Handling long loads can be a headache – and a potentially dangerous one.

For example, manoeuvring long packs of steel, timber or aluminium in busy manufacturing facilities, through access doors and around obstacles can pose all sorts of risks. Trying to solve this by using a couple of counterbalance forklifts at either end of a load is a definite no-no from a health and safety point of view, and travelling with elevated loads to avoid obstacles in the yard or warehouse is deemed to be hazardous practice too.

So instead of relying on trucks with limited manoeuvrability, specialist solutions in the form of Combilift’s

AUTUMN 2020 case study 2

can transport goods from the galvanizing bays to the storage yard.”

Stefan Tenwinkel, MD of Tenwinkel GmbH & Co. KG: “The combination of a counterbalance forklift and an indoor crane wasn’t up to the job of handling our concrete ballasts and counterweights which weigh from 10kg to around 30t.

The Combi-MG mobile gantry is a flexible and mobile solution and thanks to its design, manoeuvrability and its multidirectional steering we can move our loads in a safer manner as well as ensuring space saving storage in the yard.”

Combilift’s Combi CBE4 multidirectional models are the solution.

Designed specifically for the challenges of long and bulky loads, they combine the advantages of a counterbalance forklift, sideloader and narrow aisle truck in one machine to ensure safe as well as space saving and efficient handling.

The very low centre of gravity and integrated platform provide a stable, low level base for resting loads on during transportation and with the cab mounted to the side of the mast, the operator has a clear view of the load. 4-way ability enables quick change of the wheel direction to enable sideways travel in confined spaces or though doorways.

Thousands of companies have ditched their conventional counterbalance fleets and replaced these with multidirectional C-Series trucks, and Combi-CB compact 4-way counterbalance design models.

Whatever you need to lift and move, you can reduce the risks with a Combilift

Combilift’s Combi WR4

truck – designed first and foremost with safety in mind.

“But don’t just take our word for it, let’s hear from our customers,” emphasised Martin.

Ben O’Hanlon, MD of Todds Leap in Northern Ireland is impressed with the advantages of his Combilift: “Before we had the multidirectional Combi-CB we had to juggle with reach trucks and pallet trucks and deploy a number of personnel to safely guide loads of up to 10m long racking through the door into the warehouse. What used to take up to 45 minutes for one load is now done in three or four minutes – with just one driver. As fewer people and fewer forklift movements are involved, this is a much safer process all round.”

Alan Boyden, Joint MD of AJN Steel: “We switched from counterbalance trucks to Combilifts to ensure the safer handling of our long and heavy products - moving 18m beams with a counterbalance truck is not ideal from a number of points of view. Our C-Series models move around 300t of steel every day and have made a valuable contribution to our aim to establish and maintain the highest standards of health and safety performance within our industry.”

Malcolm Wright, Director of Edward Howell Galvanizers Ltd: “ Efficient handling which also conforms to the highest levels of health and safety is a key part of our operations. Inch by inch manoeuvring of long and heavy loads through a narrow side door with counterbalance trucks is now a thing of the past with our Combilift. Resting the loads on the trucks is much more secure and increases the speed with which we

Combilift Pedestrian Forklift, the Combi – WR4 delivers Safe Long Load Handling Safety was the impetus for the development of Combilift’s first pedestrian model, the Combi-WR reach stacker. This was quickly followed by the launch of its 4-way counterpart, the Combi-WR4; the first purpose built 4-way pedestrian reach stacker which combines multi-directional travel with features such as a pantograph reach, side shift and tilting fork carriage for handling long loads and pallets.

It is the only truck of its kind able to work in aisle-widths of 2.1m pallet to pallet. Its excellent ergonomics, which enhance occupational health and safety for the operator, earned it an FLTA Award a few years ago.

Replacing ride-on forklifts with pedestrian models when possible is an acknowledged way to reduce risks to other employees or the general public who may be in the vicinity, so it comes as no surprise that major DIY chains were amongst the first to welcome the Combi-WR4 to their handling fleet.

Pedestrian trucks naturally operate at slower speeds compared to motorised ride-on forklifts, and operators have a heightened awareness of their immediate environment as well as good all-round visibility of the load and the forks.

But customers also want to combine safety with a high level of performance, and this was not lost on Combilift’s R&D department. They developed and patented the unique multi-position tiller arm which enables push-button rotation of the rear wheel, allowing the operator to remain in the safest possible position when placing and picking in narrow aisles, which is at the side of the unit. Electronic power steering, fingertip controls on the tiller arm and dual side by side front wheels offer superb manoeuvrability and effortless operation for handling even the longest and bulkiest loads around narrow confines and corners.

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AUTUMN 2020 case study 2

Combilift’s Combi SC IMSC Combilift Straddle Carrier Handles Heavy Loads Safely & Efficiently Any company that handles large loads of concrete or structural steel for example is familiar with the risks that are posed when loading trailers with product ready to be sent out to customers. This can often involve the need for working at height as personnel stand on the trailer to guide forklift drivers, or to sling hooks onto loads when using cranes.

To eliminate these hazards, many are turning to Combilift’s Combi-SC range of straddle carriers, which allow full loads to be prepared at ground level.

Once completed, the Straddle Carrier drives over the top of the load, picks it up in one lift and places it directly on the truck bed ready to be secured for transportation. Lifting and manoeuvring even the heaviest and very cumbersome loads is no problem for the Combi-SC. Its optimum centre of gravity, broad wheelbase and exceptional 3-wheel manoeuvrability ensure maximum load stability. The centrally located, ground accessible cab offers 360° visibility, the user interface is intuitive and all functions can be carried out from within the cab without the need for operatives to work at height.

And there are many other benefits, as Mike Nesbitt, Equipment Manager at Schulte Building Systems in the US explains: “Doing something the safer way has ended up being the more profitable way too. Our Combi-SCs have not only improved safety in the shop floors and yards but have halved the time it takes to build a load, reduced labour costs and boosted profits.”

Combilift’s Fast Freight CSS vehicles and stock, but at worst can cause serious or fatal injuries to personnel. There are several factors that can influence a forklift truck to become overloaded and the load centre - the distance from the face of fork to the centre of gravity of the load plays a crucial part.

Forklift operators who are insufficiently aware of their forklift’s load capacity and the risks that come with exceeding this not only compromise their own safety, but also place everyone working around them at serious risk. But as we cannot expect forklift operators to have to constantly do the maths, we need to make life easier – and safer – for them.

The Combilift Safe-Lift is an antioverload device which enables drivers to avoid the pitfalls of potential overloading. It incorporates a strain sensor on the mast and a lift cut-out valve positioned on the mast hydraulic lift hose. There is an audible alarm which warns the operator of an overload situation and an indicator unit is fitted to the dashboard in the cab. The operator can instantly see from the green, amber and red “traffic light” signalling when there is a risk of overloading or when the forks are not fully engaged for example and take appropriate action. Fitting this simple and cost effective system to counterbalance trucks is an effective way to cut risks for the operators and other personnel, and also to avoid product damage as well as costly repairs.

Combilift Slip Sheet Loads Containers Safely and Efficiently Loading a container is labour intensive, it takes a long time and carries with it the risk of injury to operators as well as damaged goods. Using a mechanised method reduces the need for manual handling and therefore increases safety.

This was the impetus behind the recent development of the Combilift Container Slip-Sheet (Combi-CSS), which speeds up container loading whilst protecting the workforce.

The 30,000 kg capacity Combi-CSS is a low, free-standing platform with a dual-directional hydraulic pulling mechanism, on which a steel sheet rests.

A full load of product can be prepared on the sheet which is then guided into the container. A 20’ container can be loaded in just three minutes and a 40ft in just six minutes. When fully loaded, a hydraulic rear barrier gate swings across the container opening and is locked in place. This holds the material within the container while the metal sheet is slipped out from underneath it.

One of the first Combi-CSS models was delivered to Fast Freight Srl. Romania, a freight forwarding company that wanted to improve its container loading procedures. “Safety and the reduction of risk across all operations is a major priority for us,” said Ioana Nedu, Export Sales Representative, “and we use various Combilift products to handle the very diverse loads we ship around the world. The Combi-CSS has enabled us to enhance safety whilst also increasing capacity and margin per load.”

Avoid overloading and keep safe with the Combilift Safe-Lift Overloaded vehicles can tip and fall, resulting not only in damage to 44

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Text: Jarlath Sweeney - editor@fleet.ie

AUTUMN 2020 testimonial

Nutkao - An Expanding Network How Nutkao sustained rapid growth with flexible shipping solutions from Coyote Logistics Nutkao – a producer of cocoa spreads, hazelnut spreads, and other semi-finished chocolate products - is an Italian confectionary company. It was founded in 1982 by Giuseppe Braida and is an international leader in private labelled spreads for more than 35 years. Nutkao’s main production factory is located in Canove di Govone, in the Province of Cuneo (Piedmont).

Customized Solutions to Sustain Growth Over the past few years, Nutkao has grown significantly. To sustain that growth, the company needed the ability to quickly secure transport capacity across multiple lanes for urgent shipments - all while maintaining rigorous food safety protocols.

Coyote Logistics has stepped in to help equip them with the logistics solutions necessary to source capacity, expedite shipping for urgent loads, and maintain rigorous food safety protocols throughout the transportation process. Coyote’s quick response time on quote requests allowed Nutkao to quickly secure transportation for urgent shipments at a reasonable rate.

“Coyote has really helped us in sourcing capacity — even before the Coronavirus situation. When we ask for a quote or request a transport, they always quickly confirm. This is very crucial to us because we need a fast answer since our customers very often have an urgent request. Coyote’s pricing is very competitive and they stay flexible,” explained Irene Giargia, Exports Coordinator from Nutkao.

Timing is everything Because Nutkao operates a fully automatic warehouse, timing is paramount. Load times must be precise, or the entire operation suffers: a delayed pick up leads to issues with pallet storage and warehouse inventory management. Nutkao trusts Coyote to coordinate timely shipments for the success of the entire operation. “Coyote has consistently been on time for pick up and offloading. This is very important to us – delays are simply not an option,” emphasized Irene. To protect the integrity of their spreads, Nutkao also needs transport to be refrigerated. Coyote helps source reliable, temperature-controlled carriers that can maintain their product quality.

In recent times, as the Coronavirus has impacted supply chains across the globe, it comes as no surprise that Nutkao’s operation was also affected. It had to shut down production to properly disinfect its facility, which led to delays and postponed pickups and deliveries. Despite disruption in the production and a volatile pricing market, Coyote Logistics has sourced reliable, time-sensitive transport at reasonable costs, helping Nutkao deliver to its customers while protecting its budget. “We have been incredibly impressed with Coyote’s ability to meet our short lead times. For our company this is very important. Normally, we only know a day or two in advance when our food will be ready, and Coyote always has an option for us,” she added.

The right partner Last year, Nutkao focused on building up the relationship between transport and transporters to tighten up its supply chain.

“More customers means more production, and that means more transport. If we don’t have the right partners for the transportation of our products, it won’t be possible to do a good job,” emphasised Irene. With the help of its relationship with Coyote Logistics, Nutkao was able to access flexible solutions, sustain consistent Text: Rob Van Dieten - rob@fleet.ie

growth and continually develop innovative strategies to better meet the needs of its customers and suppliers.

Coyote Logistics, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States is a leading global third-party logistics provider that matches more than 10,000 shipments every day. Founded in 2006, Coyote was created with one goal in mind: create a better service experience in the transportation industry.

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AUTUMN 2020 supply chain

IEA Supply Chain events go digital Following the COVID-19 Lockdown in March, the Irish Exporters Association’s moved its various events along with its training operations onto an online platform. Planning ahead for the remainder of 2020, the Association will be abiding by the Department of Health guidelines and is unlikely to hold any physical meetings. Therefore, the Association’s Awards Dinner event will also become virtual but will recognise the considerable achievements of many exporters through the crisis as well as the preparations made trading in a postBrexit world.

Looking ahead, the IEA advises: “In September the IEA Export Series of Webinars sponsored by Rhenus Logistics Ireland, Iarnród Éireann/Rosslare Europort and media partner, Fleet Transport, will resume. The programme will focus on best practice across trade compliance, the green supply chain, Brexit, market diversification and COVID-19. This IEA initiative supports exporters with innovative thinking to understand and overcome barriers in the Supply Chain and win more international business opportunities.”

The series opener is planned as a national event introducing the major Market and Supply Chain issues to be faced during the Autumn/Winter period. The IEA is an active participant in European Union, Government and Industry Consultative Groups and will bring the current state of play on the major production and trading issues to the table for discussion by the participants. Such activity also informs the Association about issues on the ground for exporters and these can be brought forward to the policy makers and administrators concerned.

Linked to the Export series are monthly on-line meetings of the Association’s Western Regional Group chaired by John Carr and the Southern Regional Group chaired by Tim Daly. The agendas for these meetings are similar to those noted above, but are focussed on how these issues impact within the region concerned. The Western Regional meetings take place on the third Thursday of each month and the Southern group meet on the second Tuesday.

Through holding these meetings at a relatively high frequency, the members of the regional groups have been able to interact on current issues of concern and, through discussion find solutions to, in the main, supply chain problems.

At the Western Group meeting in July, Stephen Carolan, the Atlantic Economic 46

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L/R: Simon McKeever, Irish Exporters Association; Jarlath Sweeney,Fleet Transport; Kasia Steyn, Irish Rail and Declan Sinnott, Rhenus Logistics Ireland pictured at the launch of the Irish Exporters Association Export Webinar Series 2020, sponsored by Rhenus Logistics Ireland, Iarnród Éireann/ Rosslare Europort and media partner, Fleet Transport

Corridor Enterprise Hubs Programme Manager at the Western Development Commission, spoke about this project, which has received a considerable boost through the announcement in June by Community Development Minister Sean Canney T.D., of €300,000 Government funding. This will enable the development of a network of enterprise hubs throughout the Atlantic Arc stretching from Limerick to Donegal.

These hubs will provide workspace within a short distance of people’s homes that will have all the facilities necessary to enable staff members of companies located some distance away to work remotely. This presentation opened a lively discussion as the establishment of a chain of such hubs would appear to meet both the climate action agenda for firms and workers as well as enhancing work/life balance.

Simon McKeever, the IEA CEO brought the meeting up to date with the state of the EU/UK negotiations as he had done at the earlier Southern Region event, and spelt out the likely implications of those discussions for companies active in the export business.

A hot topic at these meetings, as it is likely to be at the forthcoming ones, was the significant bending of supply chains arising from the global COVID19 pandemic. Manufacturers in the pharma and medical devices sectors have faced significant issues in meeting delivery deadlines due to the disruption of airfreight services. Exporters of food and other products requiring the use

of reefer containers have also been finding it increasingly difficult to source such equipment due, mainly, to the high volumes of such units being tied up in China awaiting health clearance.

Adding to this problem and affecting all exporters to deep-sea markets has been the “Blanking” of sailings by many of the carriers leaving containers stranded at hub ports for a week or more.

These discussions, together with the issues that members have brought to the IEA advisors, have informed the Association’s Autumn programme of training courses. Many of these are supported by Government funding and full details are available on the Association’s website. www. irishexporters.ie

Text: Howard Knott - howard@fleet.ie

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