
PnP Picks Goscor Again
May 13, 2021 | by digital@lkda.co.za
Pick n Pay has made another large purchase of warehouse equipment from Goscor lift Truck Company. This brings the total to more than 500 Crown electric material handling machines bought by the retailer from Goscor.
Pick n Pay’s Elzette Watson says that after the very positive experience at the company’s Longmeadow distribution centre (DC) in Edenvale, Johannesburg there was no hesitation in ordering the equipment from Goscor for Pick n Pay’s DC at Phillipi in the Cape Province.
“We are very satisfied with the performance of the machines and equally satisfied with the service of the Goscor team. They are prepared to go the extra mile to ensure that any issues are dealt with fast and professionally,” she says.
Watson added that being able to standardise on Crown throughout the group is also a distinct advantage. “Once the product and service is at high levels it is significantly more efficient to standardise.”
The most recent deal comprised 67 Crown units and included: 3-wheel electric counterbalance forklifts, 4-wheel electric counterbalance forklift with clamps, reach trucks, low-level ride-on order pickers, short-fork ride-on power pallet trucks and long-fork ride-on power pallet trucks.
Goscor Lift Truck MD Darryl Shafto says that he is delighted to have got the Cape Town order from Pick n Pay. “Getting the ‘follow-up’ order from a company like Pick n Pay is a feather in our cap,” he says. “They are a consummately professional organisation and the DCs are crucial to the success of their business. Getting such an important repeat order is a vote of confidence in our company and we are genuinely proud.”
Meanwhile Goscor’s service ethic has become somewhat of a legend in the local industry and this is not surprising given Shafto’s philosophy of business. “The quality of the machinery is the entry level as far as I’m concerned. If you haven’t got reliable, robust technology you may as well not be in the game. The real value is created through the quality of one’s after sales backup and technical expertise. No matter how reliable one’s machines are, there’s going to come a time when something happens that requires service and it’s the speed and reliability of service that makes all the difference,” says Shafto.
Watson concurs saying that in the warehouse business one of the crucial factors for success is the minimisation of downtime and the service that on gets from one’s supplier is crucial in that equation. “Our distribution warehouses are non-stop, intensive operations and the smooth operation of the lifting equipment is an essential,” she says.
Shafto says that Crown has become famous for its operator friendly designs, which result in tangible productivity gains that provide substantial life-time cost advantages.
“Every piece of material handling equipment should be considered an investment and Crown machines have shown time and again that over their operating life they deliver significant returns on investment,” he says.
Reach trucks, so crucial in the modern space saving warehouse environment, were an important part of the Pick n Pay mix and 17 Crown ESR were part of the latest order.
‘Maximise the number of pallets moved at the lowest cost’ is Shafto’s maxim and there’s nothing better in this regard than the Crown ESR series of reach trucks. “It’s not enough to have the fastest travel speed, best lift/lower speed or efficient energy consumption, you need the optimum combination of these performance factors and the ESR series has achieved this like no other.”
“The ultimate goal of the Crown designers and engineers is to offer the highest level of reach truck performance while minimising energy consumption. It was not enough to integrate advances such as AC motors, electric steering or CAN-BUS electronics. Crown’s innovative approach to fine tuning and controlling all these systems simultaneously, is what sets the ESR range apart from the competitors.”
Shafto says he is pleased to have supplied this important warehouse with machines capable of enhancing operational efficiencies at its new distribution centre. “We have worked closely with the Pick n Pay team over the years and they have helped us develop a unique insight into their business requirements.”
Since its inception in 1984, Goscor has not only provided best practice industrial solutions, it has also created authentic partnerships with its customers, suppliers and principals. This, coupled with its market-leading Crown and Daewoo products, has helped the company show exceptional growth every year and become one of the leading suppliers in the materials handling industry.
“I think that our overall Goscor experience thus far can be summarised as ‘value for money’. By that I mean that we get excellent technology and service at competitive prices,” concluded Watson.
Pick n Pay has made another large purchase of warehouse equipment from Goscor lift Truck Company. This brings the total to more than 500 Crown electric material handling machines bought by the retailer from Goscor.