Driven by demand for its award-winning cleaning products, Astonish elected to move to a new state-of-the-art warehouse space in Bradford. Crucial to the success of the venture were storage and materials handling solutions that would not only meet current needs but accommodate anticipated growth.
With fast-paced operations. Astonish needed to streamline processes, maximising efficiency in both production and warehouse sections while also delivering sustainability.
As a first step, the company turned to Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks whose specialists worked closely with the Astonish team to find a solution that offered high levels of storage density along with easy accessibility.
A combination of double-deep racking, and an 8-strong fleet of Mitsubishi RB series double-deep reach trucks, EDiA 3-wheel counterbalance trucks, and PREMiA power pallet trucks proved to be the perfect answer.
Room to grow
As one of the fastest-growing cleaning products companies in its sector throughout the past 50 years, Astonish has undergone numerous expansions and site moves. With the move to its new facility the company wanted to future-proof its operations.
Simon Burrows, Warehouse and Logistics Director at Astonish said: “The business has gone from strength to strength and the massive growth we’ve experienced has meant that moving into this new space was essential. And we were determined to get it absolutely right. The Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks specialists helped us every step of the way, from modelling different solutions for the layout of the warehouse right through to supplying us with a complete materials handling package.”
A model solution
This process involved a series of site visits and discussions with the customer to ensure any recommendations would meet the requirement for high storage density needed to handle future expansion.
A key component in the new facility is the use of double deep racking. Tim Jones of Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks explains: “When we began discussions the customer expectation was that we would recommend the use of VNA trucks but after detailed modelling it quickly became clear the double-deep was the way to go.”
Taking up the story Simon Burrows says: “The team came in and showed us how it would save us space, enabling us to operate with narrower aisles and fit more racking and more stock into the storage space in both warehouse and production areas.”
Importantly, the fleet of Mitsubishi trucks is proving as popular with the drivers as is with management. Features like Stability Support System and Mast Tilt Control on the RB reach trucks make them highly efficient and satisfying to operate as mast sway is kept to a minimum. The result is exceptionally fast and accurate handling that combine to optimise pallet retrieval times.
The double-deep reach trucks are also fitted with cameras to allow operators to clearly view loads at high lift and maximum reach without placing strain on their necks.
Alongside them, the 3-wheel EDiA EM electric counterbalance trucks — Red Dot award winners — employ a revolutionary 360-degree steering system that eliminates the pause that occurs during a traditional 3-point turn. Not only does this save time on each turn, but it means less centrifugal force acting on the load for greatly enhanced stability (and far less likelihood of load-shedding).
Both the counterbalance and reach trucks have quick battery change options, plus a battery management system to ensure correct maintenance and to protect against potential damage to batteries from inappropriate charging.
Fully future-proofed
From the outset materials handling within the new Astonish facility has been running smoothly, and the company has been impressed by the results.
Simon Burrows said: “Our primary focus in setting up both production and warehousing areas was to standardise and simplify everything that we do so that we can focus on other aspects of the business.
“The whole package has allowed us to achieve that. To keep things running smoothly we now have a fleet management system that ensures trucks are properly maintained and operated with care by identifying impacts and encouraging safe operation. The result is less damage to premises, products, and the trucks themselves.
The team at Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks really understood exactly what we were after and were with us every step of the journey.”
Find out more
For more information on what Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks can do for your operations, call the Greenline on 0845 371 3048, contact us, or visit www.mitsubishi-forklift.co.uk.
