Summary
• Manual picking can be time-consuming and increase the risk of product damage.
• A picking platform has reduced one company’s damage costs by 75%.
• Hubtex’s Laminate Picking Platform won the 2009 FLTA Award for Ergonomics.
• The truck can be used to handle laminate sheets up to 4300x1680mm.

Legislation regarding manual handling of all materials has changed a great deal over the last few years. For some of us, it has literally been a pain in the back and for others, completely the opposite!

It wasn’t so long ago that you could buy a 50kg bag of cement and manually handle it any way you wanted to. This is possibly the best example of commonsense prevailing on the subject.

How many of us at some time have strained our backs through picking up something too heavy or twisting and turning?

Fortunately, most materials in the timber industry are handled by counterbalance fork trucks and sideloaders. However, when a customer’s order consists of numerous products, the order may have to be picked by hand. Small quantities stored at low levels can be picked safely and efficiently by two people using a small trolley but for larger quantities of materials, the situation can change rapidly.

The different products might be stored in several locations and at different heights. Accessing the materials can be done with a suitable fork lift but bringing the product to the operatives and replacing the rest back into its location can be time-consuming and, as the bulk pack may be handled many times, the products are more prone to damage.

Cost efifciency

Depending on economies of scale, it is generally more cost-effective, safer and more efficient to take the operatives to the pick face and allow them to work at waist height. It is much better for their posture and helps to reduce back problems.

In mainland Europe, most companies handling long loads are now well ahead of the game, using purpose-built two-man picking platforms. This type of fork truck (if you can call it that) allows two people to go direct to the pick face to heights of up to 10m. Orders are then picked directly onto the platform, either onto a pallet or into a purpose-built stillage. The picked order is then taken to floor level and offloaded by a conventional fork truck and the process for the next order can start again. The platforms can be adapted to allow the product to be strapped and wrapped so offloading can take the product straight onto the lorry.

Efficiency benefits

The benefits to each trade sector can be as diverse as the products they handle. Handling worktops in this way has saved one UK customer 75% in damage costs, while handling PVCu extrusion window products for another has reduced picking times and labour.

In both cases, an initial costing analysis outlined the savings and, when the trucks were installed, additional benefits came to light. The stocktaking procedure time for both sectors has improved tremendously and so has the delivery lead time. Driver comfort and safety levels have also risen. Add all this to better picking accuracy and the improved level of customer care makes for a much smoother business operation.

More recently, a customer handling laminate sheets had one man picking the product off a ladder, then feeding it onto a fork truck’s forks lifted to the same height. As the operator was required to perform the same action to heights of 8m, there was room for improvement to the safety aspect of the operation. Now, using Hubtex’s Laminate Picking Platform, two men pull the sheets out of the rack onto a platform, from which they also control all the functions of the truck they are attached to.

FLTA Award

In February the truck, which can be used to handle laminate sheets up to 4300x1680mm, won the 2009 FLTA Award for Ergonomics for the improvements it has made to the operator’s working conditions.

The same truck can also detach its platform and put away bulk stock, making for a very versatile and cost-effective piece of equipment.

In the past 18 months, the UK has received a fair number of these machines which are now working in a range of different environments and they are bringing greater efficiencies to more diverse applications. It just goes to show that even in a mature materials handling market, there can be a better solution to a problem just around the corner.