Ceramics manufacturer raises productivity with new forklift trucks

Pedestrian counterbalanced stackers had been used within the die store, injection shop and kiln room at the Corby site, which makes ceramic components for its aerospace and industrial turbine customers. However, the stackers required physical effort to push the tooling into the right position and restricted space in the kiln room meant that although the stackers were used to lift the clay casings – saggers – on to the kiln beds, the operator still had to intervene to move the casings into position. MTC Certech approached local dealer Hitec Lift Trucks, which demonstrated the Cesab Blitz 100, a compact and manoeuvrable three-wheel forklift. Alex Bailey, Health and Safety Coordinator, MTC Certech: "During demonstration, the Blitz 100 worked effectively in every area of our operation." Two Cesab forklifts are now in use, with one fitted with extendable forks which can reach into any machine in the injection room, ensuring that tooling can be inserted into the machines safely and easily by the forklift. When retracted, the trucks forks are shorter than normal at 700mm, which makes the vehicles invaluable in the kiln room where they can park next to the track rails around the kiln bed. This means loads are as close as possible to the kiln bed before being moved into place and the truck's side shift feature enables precision handling. Cesab manufactures trucks in Bologna, Italy, and has been part of the Toyota Material Handling group since 2000.