Movers and makers

Hardly a day passes without another launch of a product or service promising to boost efficiency for materials handling and logistics operations - but how many of these are paying dividends for manufacturing firms? It's all well and good for suppliers to trumpet the benefits of a heavyweight forklift truck, a slick logistics service offer or a fleet management device, for example, but it is not always so easy to uncover the proof of the rewards possible once the product or service is in place. At the International Materials Handling Exhibition (IMHX) back in March, Birmingham's NEC played host to the UK's largest event for this sector; suppliers pitched up for four days to offer their wares to thousands of visitors looking for ideas to improve the logistics operation. And there's been little lull in the releases since; Toyota, for example, has continued to bring new products to market, with the launch in September of its Tonero truck (see WM October, p61), as has Linde with additions to its X range of forklifts, to name just two. There's also been a change of direction - from another of the IMHX exhibitors, Irish-based Combilift, which was showcasing its range of multi-directional vehicles. The company has several manufacturing customers across the UK, one of which is Manchester-based Panaloc. Panaloc makes pre-assembled structures for housing, schools, student accommodation and hospitals and its MD Eric Dean says the volume and size of raw materials and finished product needing to be handled meant mainstream handling solutions just wouldn't fit the bill. Despite the products being highly customised, Panaloc can make a completed house in just four hours, or 100 bathroom units in a day. The main raw material for the panels used to assemble the structures is highly dense Kronoply OSB4, which Panaloc imports from Germany. And to make the most of Panaloc's location by the Manchester ship canal, 3,000m3 of Kronoply is delivered each month by ship. This means the road journey is reduced to just two miles from the canal to the factory. Dean says he knew "a pretty special and versatile handling system" would be needed: "I thought I would have to settle for a sideloader with possibly another type of forklift to help out with offloading." However, he saw the Combilift at an exhibition and it seemed to meet his requirements; a demonstration convinced him that he wouldn't need several different types of truck. The four-way trucks can work as counterbalance forklifts, sideloaders and narrow aisle forklifts, offloading the bulky 3m-wide OSB boards which range in length from 6m to 13m. The trucks are also used to manoeuvre WIP around the 250,000ft2 factory, and to reload finished product for onward delivery to customers. As well as its initial fleet of four Combilifts, with a 5-tonne capacity, Panaloc is now using the largest Combilift ever built - a 14-tonne capacity model. Engineers from both companies worked together to design a model that would meet the specific requirements of Panaloc's Trafford Park operation. The truck's chassis is wider than usual to accommodate the significant load sizes, and hydraulic fork positioners have been incorporated. Since some of the 4m-long finished panels can't be loaded flat on the delivery trucks, Panaloc engineers designed a special attachment to hook on to the panels to load them 'on end'. The Combilifts are all made in Ireland and with this latest addition, the range now extends from 2.5t to 14t capacity models, running on either LPG, diesel or electric. Driving improvements Back on English soil, Longbridge will be forever synonymous with the Rover operation and at one stage looked unlikely to ever play host again to a manufacturing operation. Now, however, production has begun at the site of cars bearing the MG marque, which has been resurrected by the Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC), after it bought the rights to MG in 2005. At the official opening earlier this year, Yu Jian Wei, CEO of NAC, said: "We realised from the outset of this project that retaining a manufacturing link with the UK is of fundamental importance. Longbridge will play a leading role in our European operation and the plant is now in a position to commence TF production for the UK market. This is a very exciting time for MG and it's an important boost to the economy of the Midlands manufacturing region." The lines at Longbridge had to be modified and, as part of this process, a new inbound logistics area has been created, complete with a bespoke storage solution from Linpac Storage Systems (pictured left and above right). Located in cell 6, next to the assembly plant, inbound logistics is receiving components from the UK and Europe, as well as from China. Gary Egan, NAC's business services senior manager, was part of the contracts negotiation team for this deal. "We were looking for a quality storage solution that could be finished within a tight timescale and that would be project managed by the selected supplier from start to finish." Linpac was chosen, he says, because it could meet all the requirements on time and in budget - the project was completed in six weeks from start to finish. "Although we already had an overall concept for the plan of the area, we called on Linpac's expertise to develop the scheme, making the necessary design changes to give us the most effective solution," adds Egan. The scheme comprises wide aisle pallet racking and carton live shelving to store the extensive range of car components required to feed the lineside units in the nearby assembly area. The pallet racking is timber decked and accommodates up to six levels of different sized pallets. Smaller components are held on carton live shelving, which transports the boxes of parts on gravity tracks to automatically replenish the pick face. "Previously, we stored our car parts externally and they had to be driven to the assembly plant," says Egan. "Now all the movements are internal and we have been able to cut down on handling time, too." Time will tell if Longbridge can return to its glory days, but the new owners are ensuring that investment in the logistics operation of this facility will mean it has every chance of success.