Narrow fleet is best formula for chemical storage14 March 2012

Chemical giant BASF has increased its very narrow aisle (VNA) forklift fleet at its Bradford facility in a bid to achieve optimum efficiency for storage and handling of chemicals.

There are more than 25,000 pallet movements per week at the BASF facility, which houses both raw materials and finished products. Racking reaches over 13 m high and aisles are 1.65 m wide.

Seven MTC series VNA trucks from Yale Material Handling are being used with a computerised order picking system that automatically determines the fastest and most energy-efficient route through the racking.

Each of the 80V MTC15 trucks can handle industrial bulk containers or pallets up to 1.5 tonnes, moving them from the racking to marshalling areas at the end of each aisle for loading and unloading by electric counterbalance forklift trucks.

BASF's site logistics manager Craig McAllister said the 24/7 operation has to avoid downtime at all costs: "Our first consideration when replacing the VNA fleet was therefore reliability."

Yale dealer Forkway, working in the UK alongside Briggs Equipment, secured the deal for the seven VNA trucks and is responsible for the supply and maintenance of other materials handling equipment on site.

McAllister adds: "Another important consideration was the ease of use and comfort for the operators. With a 24-hour shift pattern, split over four shifts, operating trucks in a quiet warehouse in the middle of the night can be very solitary and we needed to maintain optimum efficiency and keep operators focused and alert.

"The MTC trucks offer great visibility and ease of operation which all add to the health and safety element of operation. The comfortable seat and easily accessible controls also make operation even smoother and help to reduce operator fatigue." Joystick controls have been specified as an option on all of the trucks and each one is fitted with an MP3 connection point.

Forkway also redesigned the loops used for wire guidance of the VNA trucks to minimise risk of downtime. One continuous loop has been changed to eight individual loops, so any problems will not bring the entire operation to a halt.

Laura Cork

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