Summary
• Chiltern Timber Supplies operates the Combilift C4000.
• Top racks at 5m can be used to the full thanks to the fork lift’s capacity.
• The Combilift can work with full loads on gradients.
• Chiltern has ordered a second C4000 for its Berkhamsted warehouse.
Chiltern Timber Supplies’ proprietor Gerry Barton has been through quite a collection of forklift trucks at his Hemel Hempstead premises since he established the company in 2006, but he has finally found the one-truck solution to all his handling requirements with a Combilift C4000 4-way forklift.
Chiltern Timber offers a wide selection of sheet material, timber, builders merchants’ and DIY supplies not only to the local Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire areas but also increasingly nationwide through its online presence.
The varied dimensions of the products handled, coupled with the requirements to increase available storage space for extra stock lines, prompted the company’s search for a more rationalised approach to offloading and storing materials.
Increased storage
The Combilift’s ability to access much tighter spaces than the previous trucks, as well as its 4-tonne capacity, has increased storage availability by a good 30%.
“The 13,000ft² we have at our disposal is relatively tight for the amount of products we stock and now that we can cut aisle widths to almost half their size in our undercover area this is a real boost,” said Mr Barton.
“The truck’s larger capacity than our old 3-tonne machine means that the top racks of the 5m-high outside cantilever racking can also be used to the full. In addition, previously redundant space at the bottom of the racking and either side of it can be used thanks to the Combilift’s manoeuvrability and its ability to block stack.”
Tackling gradients
A further plus is the truck’s ability to work with full loads on gradients: Chiltern Timber’s premises are at the top of quite a steep slope, and unloading from regular incoming deliveries is now much quicker and more stable than with the electric 4-way sideloader previously used.
“Time and efficiency is an issue for an outfit of our size to make sure we offer the best possible customer service, and the Combilift has been beneficial here too,” said Mr Barton.
“Combilift’s Paul Hopkinson advised us on the specifications of the truck. The hydraulic fork positioners operated from inside the cab are really useful and save the driver having to get in and out of the cab to adjust the forks, which considerably speeds up operations when moving loads of differing sizes,” he added.
The Combilift’s versatility to replace a combination of other trucks eliminates the need for drivers to switch from one truck to another depending on the task in hand, also reducing the number of fork lift movements on site for better health and safety procedures.
“At one point we thought we may have to look at larger premises due to the constraints on space,” said Mr Barton. “But the Combilift has enabled us to stay put and avoid the considerable costs associated with moving.
“It has been such an overall success that I have just put in an order for another C4000 which will operate at our new warehouse facility in Berkhamsted.”
