Pedestrian tugs improve safety and efficiency for commercial vehicle trailer manufacturer

Based in Altrincham, Cheshire, Cartwright operates from a 38-acre site and has one of the most efficient bodywork and trailer manufacturing plants in Europe. Prior to buying the pedestrian operated tugs from MasterMover, employees at the plant were using a combination of forklift trucks (with special attachments) or a diesel tractor unit to move trailers through each stage of the production and assembly. While this equipment is capable of lifting heavy loads, it is not specifically designed for moving trailers, so safety was being compromised. Cartwright also required a more flexible way of moving trailers around the restricted production areas. Barry Atherton, Cartwright's general manager, says: "Space in the production areas here is pretty confined and so we required a compact machine that could move trailers quickly and safely through each stage of the manufacturing flow line. We didn't want to lose valuable production time waiting for a forklift truck or a diesel tractor unit to arrive in order to move the trailer on to the next stage of the process. We also didn't want our employees to have to put up with the exhaust fumes from using a diesel tractor or truck inside the coach building areas." Cartwright now has eight Master Tug TMS (Trailer Moving Systems) from MasterMover. The Master Tug TMS is a versatile, electric-operated pedestrian tug, designed to provide control and manoeuvrability to the operator when moving heavy, awkward loads of up to 11 tonnes. Barry Atherton continues: "Training to use the tugs is very straightforward and fast. Our operators have quickly got to grips with using the tugs and are now confident and happy that they have the appropriate equipment that does the job safely and with minimal effort. This means that there is always someone available on hand when a trailer needs to be moved on to its next stage of production, which in turn has led to improvements in overall production efficiencies and productivity. The cost of a TMS is also a fraction of the cost of a diesel tractor unit or forklift truck, which is not designed to move a trailer. The TMS can be used in confined spaces and so we can get more trailer units through our production process now if we need to. When we've needed it, technical support and training from MasterMover has been excellent."