Case Study

CESAB case study
SPOTLESS HANDLING BY CESAB
• Productivity more than
doubled
• Complete reduction in
health and safety issues
Minky Homecare is a trading name of Vale
Mill (Rochdale) Limited, a family owned
and run business with a head office in
Rochdale, Lancashire. The company has
five distribution, manufacturing and storage
centres in the North West, with 80% of its
household cleaning and laundry product
ranges manufactured in Britain.
Tony Close, head of supply chain and
logistics, turned to CESAB dealership
Rack-N-Stak when he faced the challenge
of handling some new, heavy, bespoke
display boxes. Vale Mill’s existing range
of pallet trucks was proving inefficient at
www.cesab-forklifts.eu
handling the individual 70kg boxed load.
Tony Close: “We needed to move these
display boxes, which held outdoor airers for
a major supermarket customer, quickly and
carefully. Operators were struggling with
pallet trucks and standard counterbalanced
forklifts, finding it hard to avoid damaging
the product.
“The prospect of introducing larger
materials handling equipment into our
distribution centre was worrying, as internal
spaces are restricted, with low ceilings in
some areas. Any new equipment would
High performance in distribution
“Rack-N-Stak have proved
their expertise when
it comes to resolving
materials handling
challenges. Their product
knowledge and the service
they provide on an ongoing basis has had a
significant impact on
our productivity and has
shown us that working
with a local dealer who
knows what they are doing,
is worth its weight in gold.”
Tony Close
Vale Mill
Constant deliveries
CESAB forklifts work eight hour shifts,
five days a week in the distribution
centre, where they are constantly
called on for loading and unloading
Quick transport
The CESAB forklifts’ clamp attachment
holds containers of varying sizes and
weights without damaging their loads.
Optimised tiller arm
The CESAB range is manufactured
in Europe using *TPS, one of the
world’s best manufacturing systems
*Toyota Production System
Versatile and manoeuvrable
have to be compact and manoeuvrable if
it was going to work effectively, as well as
being versatile enough to be switched to
any application within our operations.”
After reviewing Vale Mill’s needs and
inspecting every area the equipment
would be used in, Rack-N-Stak suggested
CESAB Drago forklifts, fitted with a clamp
application. The two blades of the clamp
could hold the container without causing
any damage to the load.
Tony Close: “We started off with one
CESAB truck and this proved to be
cesab-forklifts.eu
unbelievably successful so we bought
another from Rack-N-Stak. Loads were
unpacked in half the time of previously.
Productivity was more than doubled and
any health and safety issues and damage
to packaging associated with previous
equipment were completely reduced.
“Switching between the traditional forks
and the clamp is a quick and easy process,
so uptime is maximised and the trucks
move between applications with minimum
disruption.”
The CESAB trucks also handle Minky
ironing board products on bespoke
stillages, a type of heavy metal rack
that does not conform to a traditional
specification. CESAB forklifts handle
internal movements of bulk quantities of the
product on these stillages, ensuring they
are carried smoothly with minimum stress
or difficulty for operators.
Tony Close: “We are delighted with the
transformation achieved by CESAB
forklifts. The drivers’ working lives have
been made easier and we’ve seen clear
productivity and safety benefits across our
operation.”
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