Advantages of articulated forklift trucks from Goscor

… for both the warehouse and the manufacturing industry

Bendi, the original and still the world’s most popular articulated truck, distributed in South Africa by Goscor Lift Truck Company, is well known for helping to make significant cost savings in the warehouse and logistics industries. What many don’t realise is these savings are also significant for manufacturers.

Background

VNA (very narrow aisle) forklift trucks are capable of working in much narrower aisles – approximately 1.7 – 2m – than conventional trucks, helping to make the maximum use of storage space.

However, due to the close tolerances within the narrow aisle, a number of criteria have to be fulfilled e.g. special flooring with very fine tolerances is required to meet the flatness required by narrow aisle machines; rail or wire guidance is used to enable the truck to be millimetre perfect whilst travelling up and down the aisle and this guidance adds significant cost; ironically, large spaces (transfer aisles) measuring up to 4 – 6m at the end of each aisle are required to allow the narrow aisle trucks to transfer from one aisle to the next which wastes valuable storage space and is a slow process.

In addition, traditional VNA trucks are also only suitable for in aisle operation which means that other more conventional trucks are required to feed the narrow aisle system and take goods away.

Another important point to note is that often narrow aisle trucks are tailor-made for each warehouse, product and racking system which means that the product can’t vary too much and the trucks cannot easily be relocated. Short term hire or replacement in the event of a breakdown is virtually impossible to find. This inflexibility combined with the operational costs limits many companies to enjoy the benefits of narrow aisles.

Enter Bendi

The fact is that all efforts to reduce aisle size comes with compromises and the more space saved, the more compromises arise. Enter Bendi! This exceptional articulated forklift was developed to remove all of these issues with a fast moving, narrow aisle, general purpose forklift. In short, one truck that could do everything – inside, outside and that was mass-produced to fit all applications.

Benefits of the Bendi

Rising property, energy and maintenance costs are all major factors in the increasing cost of operating a warehouse or factory. Businesses throughout South Africa are being forced to streamline their operations, which has led to an increased number of companies trying to condense their operations under one roof. This is when the Bendi comes into its own!

Bendi’s 220° mast and axle rotation enables the truck to operate in aisle widths of only 1800mm, less than half of what it would take to operate a conventional 2-ton counterbalance truck. This means double the storage capacity or increased area for the facility. It also means fewer trucks and increased productivity, which in turn can mean huge cost savings

 

Advantages to the Manufacturing Industry

It isn’t however just the Warehousing and Distribution sectors that enjoy the Bendi benefits. Manufacturing and Production companies are also benefiting from significant improvements in handling efficiencies through Bendi.

Manufacturing, unlike many other industries, has to cater for numerous and varied handling tasks including off-loading and storage of the raw materials, transportation throughout the manufacturing plant, feeding production lines and storage and distribution of the finished goods. Historically this has resulted in the need for different types of handling equipment, each ultimately being underutilised increasing the truck fleet costs. Also, double handling product also leads to further operating inefficiencies and increased risk of damage.

Thanks to the innovative design of the Bendi, which enables the truck to operate safely in narrow spaces of only 1800mm double handling is a thing of the past. Also, manufacturers using Bendi need only one truck to unload vehicles, transport and feed the production lines, store the finished product and then distribute. This has led to huge cost and efficiency gains throughout the manufacturing process.