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AS LAST YEAR'S Internationally Materials Handling Show was cancelled and there was no Storage Handling Distribution (SHD) exhibition either this year or last year, their place was taken by Warehouse '84, a smaller, more specialised show held at Alexandra Pavilion in North London last week DAVID WILCOX reports.
It was organised by the publishers of SHD magazine and around 90 manufacturers and suppliers of warehouse equipment chose to show what they have for those in stores, warehouses and distribution centres.
Among the many exhibits on the large Jungheinrich stand was the Ameise 2000 hand pallet truck fitted with a Waycell weighing device to measure pallet loadings to a claimed accuracy of plus or minus five per cent.
The Waycell is hydraulically operated and fits into the truck's own hydraulic system. Jungheinrich does the fitting on its own trucks but it is not cheap at £350-£400; rather more expensive than the truck itself.
Jungheinrich was also exhibiting two new electric pedestrianoperated pallet trucks by Ameise. One was a two-tonne capacity pallet truck (ERE model) and the other a 1.25 tonne capacity stacker unit truck (ERC model).
Both share the same 0.9kW drive unit and they have a fold down platform so that they can be used either as stand-on models or pedestrian-operated. Including batteries and charger, the pallet truck is £4,800 while the stacker truck is £5,400.
MIC (UK) Sales is part of the Jungheinrich group but concentrates on the lighter end of the market with its range of French built hand pallet trucks and pedestrian/rider-operated trucks. New at Warehouse 84 was the TBM 1200, an unusual sort of half-way house model because it is a hand pallet truck with a compact electric drive; its hydraulic lift is still manual. The capacity is 1.2 tonnes and it can travel at 4km/hr when laden (6km/hr unladen).
A new range of Caterpillar lift truck was being shown by H. Leverton of Windsor. The range spans lift capacities from 1.25 to 1.75 tonnes and have either pneumatic tyres (V series) or cushion tyres (T series). They are compact, four-wheel trucks powered by Peugeot 2.5 litre diesel, Peugeot 2.0 litre petrol or lpg engines. The 1.5 tonne model is priced at around £10,000.
If you need a truck with the same lifting capability but superior manoeuvrability, Caterpillar was also introducing a new range of three-wheel electric lift trucks.
Its single rear wheel is for steering only; the front wheels are independently driven by separate electric motors and when the rear-steered wheel is turned microprocessors detect the movement and slow and then reverse the inner front wheel to give a very small turning circle.
The truck also incorporates self-diagnostic circuits for automatic fault-detection in the electrical systems.
Formula Trucks of Egham, Surrey was showing a brand new Italian-built three-wheel electric lift truck designated "Series ERT". There are three models — 800, 1,0 0 0 and 1,200kg capacity — available with various masts to give lift heights up to more than 6m. These cushion-tyred trucks are driven through the single steered rear wheel. The 1,200kg model costs £9,500 including batteries.
Broadening the use of an existing lift truck can be achieved by the Kooi-Aap conversion kit which effectively extends the length of a truck's forks. This means that they can reach to the far side of a vehicle to give complete one-sided loading or unloading.
The extension forks fit over the existing forks and are extended and retracted under hydraulic power from the truck's spare hydraulic valve. In the fully retracted position the Kooi-Aap forks have little effect on the truck's capacity but at maximum extension the truck must be derated by 40 per cent. The forks were being shown at Warehouse 84 by MPS Industries of Bristol.
United Biscuits went to its computer subsidiary Process Computing (PCL) of Harlesden NW10 for advice about a system which links conventional, manually-operated lift trucks to a supervisory computer.
PCL looked at what was availa ble and designed its own system called Computatruk. A mini-computer supervises pallet location in the racking, and records all movements in and out of stock. By using small keyboards and message display terminals on the lift trucks, operators can request (or be automatically given) instructions on whereabouts in the racking to place or retrieve a particular pallet.
The system includes radio communication with the central stock control room and although a typical six-truck installation is not cheap at £60,000-£70,000 (including the computer, software and radio) PCL claims the cost will be recouped through more efficient lift truck movements and better stock location. The first PCL Computatruk systems are currently being installed ir United Biscuits' warehouse, but they are being offered to othet users as well.
During the three-day run Iasi week 3,150 trade visitors at tended Warehouse 84 and next year's exhibition is already planned for April 30 to May al the Alexandra Pavilion.