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Demounts: useful o go-ahead firms

EIVOUNTABLE vehicles av many roles to play in an port and distribution yst ms. These include iaxiuising the use of capital qui ment, avoiding loadingay peaks, making the best se if driver's time and, posibl most important of all, ley do away with the eed for regional stockholle ts in a national delivery .erv ce.

U ing overnight trunking of ne, two or three demountable odi s per vehicle (or on the rei htliner network), it is posible to have a high-frequency eli ery service on a national asi operated from a single entralised production and tor ge point.

T e concept of demountable ,od es is now becoming

cc pted by distribution gers as a useful tbol to adu e costs and optimise ser :ice Recognition of demountble has been hindered by hre factors: I he inadequate marketing trat gy of their manufacturers;

istrust of new methods )y t ansport 'old timers-:

anagers' failure to grasp hat demountables are an interat d system.

We do not advocate denoqntable body systems as a ;ure for all distribution ills nor lo we recommend the concept eg rdless of circumstances, aecause physical distribution na agement must respond lexibly to the demands of the nar

It is very dangerous to )urchase a system and then de ;ide how to use it. Thorough nvestigations must be made nto the configurations of de nand, site selection, documen.ation flow, work flow and iniividual work specification be'ore considering installation.

Unless users are willing and able to make changes to both :he physical aspects of their 3peration as well as the adminstrative processes, they will not reap the benefits which come from the use of demountables.

So the use of integrated -na agement techniques is

;omplernentary to the adoption pf demountables.. But if corect y applied, the benefits will certainly include a better controlled service, a reduction in the total capital invested and in the labour force, and better utilisation of resources, Many prospective users do not realise that the real dividends in the use of a demountable system are not in fact derived from the transport sector of the distribution function but from more efficient warehousing.

When conventional methods of transport are used, work peaks at the end of the day when lorries return simultaneously. The stress to the manpower and physical resources can come to breaking point at this time — while very often the mornings have been comparatively quiet.

Using a demountable body system will smooth out the workflow by allowing the warehouse manager to apportion work throughout the working day. This is achieved because individual demountable bodies can be moved into the loading bays and used steadily through the day.. The size of the loading bay and the number of loading staff and facilities can hence be reduced.

Specialised labour can be optimised and a greater degree of knowledge of manpower performance can be obtained. For example, drivers will not have to assist in loading their lorry, and in many cases will not have to handle goods at terminals.

Where local terminals are to be used, the only essential requirement is a flat area on which to mount and demount. The need to handle goods other than at the point of delivery is eliminated, so avoiding the use of covered warehouse space. Other advantages are • Warehousing staff not required at local terminals; • Minimum supervisory staff • Mechanical handling equipment unnecessary; • Less handling of goods; • Load security enhanced; • Establishment costs reduced; • Management and specialist staff can be located centrally.

With smaller companies, a demountable system can facilitate central warehousing stocking with relatively inex pensive terminals in centres of demand.

By installing a demountable system the flexibility afforded is far in excess of a rigid body application. Once loaded, the demountable body can be mounted on any available chassis and in cases of breakdown it can be transferred to another chassis.

However, the successful implementation of a demountable system will bring with it certain problems which are not insurmountable — provided that sufficient investigation and planning has been carried out beforehand.

It will be necessary to reassess the order process and sales administration systems and possibly move away from the traditional management structure in which the consistent functions of physical distribution are dispersed among a number of executives.

The location of terminals will bring with it the task of finding suitable land for development or another company in the area which is prepared to share its site with another user. This may lead to a further cost reduction.

In spite of the smaller number of units necessary to operate a demountable body system, the immediate capital investment in the fleet may often be greater. While the correct business criterion on whether to proceed should be based on the total revenue expenditure, there could be a problem in generating sufficient capital to meet the needs of the new system. Certain staff retraining will be necessary in many parts of the company, although its extent will depend on the degree of integration with sales, administration and production. In the distribution function, traffic staff and drivers will need training.

It is important to ensure that the utilisation of both the demountable body and the chassis are optimised through an efficient traffic department. However, the difficulties of duling two units where only one previously existed is correspondingly more difficult, and an effective method of control will 6e found necessary.

This will depend on the needs of the company although a visual display system is found satisfactory with existing demountable system users.

There are many successful demountable body system users in the United Kingdom today who have proved over the years that in times of rising costs the original decision was the correct one.

In the own-account field, transport costs can account for up to 40 per cent of the price of the finished product, so it is up to the transport manager to investigate all ways of containing his costs.

It is rare that the fullest potential of a relatively new technical advance is realised at the moment of its conception, and this is certainly true of demountable body systems.

Bill Rhodes, director and general manager of Spire Transport Ltd, the transport subsidiary of Robinsons of Chesterfield, readily admits this. Although he has been using Abel Uni-Swop demountables for over 10 years, he is still discovering new benefits of the system.

Robinsons of Chesterfield, manufacturers of disposable nappies and surgical dressings, as well as rigid boxes and printed cartons, were faced with the problem of efficient distribution of their products, mainly bulky but light. Chesterfield is situated virtually in the centre of industrial England, with the motorway network on its doorstep. Spire Transport was not slow to exploit new concepts. It has always been enthusiastic about its customer service, so it took the opportunity going demountable over 10 years ago in order to speed up vehicle turn-round and spread loading times.

Lengthy discussions took place between Spire Transport executives and those of the manufacturing divisions, resulting in the conclusion that going artic was not the complete answer to the problem for the smaller types of load or for retail customers, mainly in the grocery and pharmaceutical trades Harry Reeve of Reeve Coachbuilders, was consulted. It was eventually decided to standardise on a 20ft contained for local delivery work using Abel demountable equipment Containers are now moved on skeletal trailers to the depots, unloaded within minutes and then transferred to vehicles equipped for carrying the 20ft boxes for delivery to customers Today Spire Transport operates 72 Abel demountable bodies using 21 chassis cabs for their retail deliveries. This supplements their main fleet of 23 articulated units, three vans, seven curtain-sided trailers and two flat trailers. Five demountable semi-trailers are used, each carrying two demountable bodies for the main trunking routes to the depots.

Because Spire Tranrport is using the demountable system as an aid to distribution and warehousing, demountable bodies are placed at the end of packing department, where the customers' orders are assembled and loaded into the bodies using fork-lifts trucks.

When a body is full, the documentation is sent to the traffic office for driver allocation and a slave chassis cab collects the body and takes it to the park.

To save time in raising and lowering the body legs the slave chassis suspension system has been fitted with air suspension to raise the complete chassis by a sufficient amount to give clearance for the legs from the ground.

Fresh empty bodies are then collectedl from the park and taken to the packing department for loading and so the cycle continues throughout the whole working day.

Drivers receive their daily instructions from the traffic office, then pick up the body from the park and start their journey. Drivers normally do not have regular and set routes, so that until the beginning of their shift they do not know their destination — excellent for load security, as some products car ried are of high value.

A recent analysis of t operating cost showed th Spire Transport was obtain inc return of 12 per cent of turrKA before taxation, working on vehicle replacement cycle eight years.

This was achieved by costii the transport operation acc rately and making realisi charges to the parent compan A single 20 ft demountat vehicle must return £17.31 p day on an average journey 150 miles. Drivers' wages a costed at E15.24 and fuel, and tyres £10.04.

Vehicles are worked 10 hrt day for five days per week. addition, the demountable ba is costed at E1.90 per day, El 0 per week, depending on utilisation.

Operating costs are ke tightly under control and ha been separated for ease of ide tification. These quoted are culated as a percentage revenue earnings: fuel and oil 16 tax 3 insurance 0 wages and holiday pay 32 subsistence 2 tyres and tubes 0 replacement account 12 depreciation 19 overheads 9 By using dernountables Spi Transport has over the last ti years improved driver produ tivity, increased vehicle utilis tion and smoothed throughp at the loading point as well generally contributing to transport and warehousin functions: But — most impor ant of all — trading figures col tinue to look healthy.