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CONVEYORS Fork-lifts dominate the market but, depending on the items being handled, they aren't always the most eff icient solution.

21st July 2005, Page 51
21st July 2005
Page 51
Page 51, 21st July 2005 — CONVEYORS Fork-lifts dominate the market but, depending on the items being handled, they aren't always the most eff icient solution.
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If you're handling loose parcels or boxes, for example, the only way to fork-lift them around is to palletise them first, which wastes both time and load space.

Lorry-loading conveyors —which extend from within the warehouse into the back of the vehicle being loaded or unloaded are the perfect alternative in such situations. They can be fixed to a particular loading bay, railmounted and slid laterally between different loading bays, or totally mobile units that can be driven around freely.

Whatever the type, they all make for maximum vehicle fill, according to Steve Nutta sales manager at conveyor supplier Caljan Rite-Hite.

"If you're loading a shipping container this way, for instance, you can fill it from floor to ceiling," he explains, "If you were palletising items instead, you might lose 20% of the container capacity. It can also be very difficult to palletise items such as parcels easily, because each one can vary so much in size and shape." Lorry-loading conveyors can be used with all kinds of vehicles from small vans upwards, Nuttall points out, and operators using them can easily handle up to 750 items an hour: "That means you could double vehicle turnaround over a typical eight-hour shift compared with purely manual handling," he explains.

'Man-rider' units even come with an operator platform at the trailer end that will elevate the operator within the trailer to roof height, allowing them to stack to the maximum internal height without having to climb up other loaded goods to do so.

And, as goods are typically presented at waist height, Nuttail suggests that lorryloading conveyors help to minimise the risk of repetitive strain injury in workers from the constant reaching, lifting and stacking involved in purely manual handling.

Costs vary from Et 4,000-260,000, depending on the type and size of unit.

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