SHOW OF STRENGTH
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The Transport & Distribution Services Show has evolved into a showcase for operators to present new services, products and business plans to their customers.
Distribution specialists minated the main stands this :ar at the Wembley Conferice Centre, with corresponigly less space taken by insport hardware.
There were also far fewer en-air vehicle and bodywork hibits than in the past, but ere was a good display of gh-technology, computerised anagement hardware and stems.
New images and fresh arketing initiatives abounded. ited Carriers, for instance, ared a stand with fellow 1.1apanies in the Bunzl Transdation group, such as intertional specialist Thompson witt, emphasising the range services now offered_ To .derline this expansion the oup announced a daily serLe to Switzerland (run jointly th the Metzger & Richneri iedag group of Basle). iompson Jewitt also nounced a daily groupage rvice to Italy. Another mem r company, Robsons Disbution, unveiled a new livery the corporate style, but its acks retain their celebrated arder names.
DEED PRICE revised image was also uniled for Bees Contract Ser:..es, a newly-formed division thin the Hinckley-based oup now known as Bees curity Distribution. Having A spent million on a spotrental fleet, the division
s now launched a fixed-price livery service. This offers Laranteed UK deliveries withone, two or three days, deaiding on destination. Prices art at £6.50 for up to 10kg. antract hire is also part of the flipany's portfolio. Sheffield-based RDB Freight Lines launched a just-in-time warehousing and distribution package called Supplyline, under which the company will act as an intermediary between manufacturers and their customers.
In support of this service, which is aimed at both food and industrial products, the company has commissioned a new 1,850m2 warehousing complex at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, which opens officially later this month. By contrast, the Maccess automotive supplies group of Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, is willing to handle any non-food items through a specialist distribution division tagged with the upbeat marketing title, Contractline.
ADVISORY SERVICE
Quick consultancy was being offered by Wincanton Distribution Services, which launched a free advisory service for potential customers. It promised an outline proposal within five days (or a maximum of 20 for "the most complex distribution requirements"). Another operator, Peter Lane Transport, introduced a driver training division under its PL Workforce banner.
Communication was a strong theme at the show: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was seen as the way ahead for international forwarders by Lloyd's of London Press, which markets the international Transpotel return-load system in the UK. It revealed that two UK customers were already using Transpotel terminals to input and receive documentation under internationallyrecognised EDI protocols. While Transpotel has only 100 UK users (there are 1,200 in all), Lloyd's claims to have achieved something of a coup by signing up the agency Maritime Cargo Processing. Advice in EDI technology was also being offered by London-based consultancy and software specialist CAP Industry.
Route planning and vehicle scheduling systems were much in evidence this year. Several systems showing features included the Paragon 2 from the PA Consulting Group of London. This can now cater for such things as multicompartment vehicles and incompatible products. It can also reschedule orders during the day to take account of changed circumstances.
STRATEGY FILES
Istel has built a similar capability into its VISIT package, and has introduced Strategy Files. These allow the user to create a store of predetermined loading priorities (based on such factors as time, distance and optimum payload); they can then be called up at will and applied to the day's schedule.
Many exhibitors focused on the interface between inforrna tion technology and the real world outside — offering data input terminals, keyboards, visual displays and in-cab printers. Typical of the more advanced products was the Automatic Vehicle Recognition (AVR) system offered by Software Controls. For about £30 a vehicle can be fitted with a small transmitter which identifies it automatically to depotbased equipment on arrival. An induction loop is buried under the road to pick up the signal.
Such systems can be used to activate automatic gates, doors or other devices. At the Wembley event, APT Controls of Harrow (an associate of Software Controls) showed how the AVR could be used to open automatic barriers, while another company, Permex of Hendon, displayed it in conjunction with its Fleetguard Fuelcheck 4000 fuel-monitoring system.
Weighwrite, Farnham, had a broadly similar device of its own: it was battery-powered instead of using vehicle electries. This was featured in its newly-launched Superdynamic weighbridge package, which had a control unit that could be programmed to calculate grossweight or axle-weight overloads for all rigids and artics in a given fleet. The price for a complete installation was around £20,000.
VEHICLE EXHIBITS
Although there were few vehicle exhibits, some innovations were on display. Rateliff Tail Lifts unveiled a revised version of its Quickfit pre-assembled column tail-lift. This broke radically from Ratcliff tradition in using chains instead of cables for lifting the platform, and had columns that were only half as deep from front to back as before — and yet no wider.
The compactness was achieved as the chains did not rise above floor level. Therefore there were no top rollers, and there was no need to accommodate a double pass in the columns. Instead, the chain assemblies had been twisted through 900, allowing the chains to run up from the base of the runners and directly into the floor-level beam assembly.
Other improvements in the lift included an inset plastics platform base plate, stainless steel bearing points under th platform frame, and a bolt-or underrun bar adjustable for height. Ratcfiff said this reduced the number of lifts tha had to be stocked.
Alongside the Commercial Motor prize trailer from Trail master Trailers was a tri-axli refrigerated model from Wes German manufacturer Schmi now represented by
Winchester-based Schmitz Trailers (UK). It had a separate frame with an ultrashallow 88mm neck, and use Ferroplast steel-on-foam pan which come from an associat company. One of 18 for Han Distribution and sister-comp Novacold, its weight was est mated at 9,080kg. Schmitz h 300 UK orders.
Another trailer featured th latest and most powerful refi geration unit yet from Carrie Transport Refrigeration of Warrington. Said to outperform any other unit on th market, it comes in a distinc tive, aerodynamically curved metal casing.
• by Peter Rowlands