Adaptalift Group Supply New Forklift and MHE Fleet to IFC's new Melbourne Warehouse Facility

Adam Duncan from material handling solutions provider, Adaptalift, spoke to MHD about equipping its client, IFC Global Logistics’ Sydney and Melbourne new facilities with its range of Hyster forklifts.

Adaptalift, provider of material handling solutions such as forklifts, elevated work platforms, cleaning equipment, fleet management, and safety systems, is no stranger to offering tailored solutions to its variety of clients. It has been doing so nationally for the past 40 years.

International supply chain solutions provider, IFC Global Logistics & Warehousing, has two new facilities in the Melbourne area of Altona and the Sydney suburb of Leppington.Adaptalift’s fleet of reach trucks, low level order pickers, and counterbalance forklifts have all been deployed at IFC’s Victorian and New South Wales-based warehouses.

INSTALLING SMART AND SAFE SOLUTIONS

IFC was moving to new premises when it consulted the Melbourne-founded material handling company for the relevant solutions for its operations.“It was great to be able to help IFC with this transformational project,” says Adam Duncan, General Manager of Sales, Adaptalift. “Adaptalift like IFC is an Australian privately-owned company offering innovative customer solutions.”

IFC needed new equipment for its purpose-built facilities given the age of its previous fleet and the fact IFC were maximising the available building cube of its new premises. As a 3PL provider, IFC required larger and higher facilities to accommodate more inventory for its valued clients.

“Our investment in new facilities in Melbourne and Sydney has allowed IFC to increase its storage capacity, operate more efficiently, and ultimately better serve our customers,” explains Ian Taner – General Manager IFC Warehousing and Distribution Pty Ltd.“Our new MHE fleet provided by Adaptalift has proven to be reliable and the ForkTrack fleet management system provides key operational data to help us drive continuous improvement and decision making.”

Additionally, Adaptalift installed specific safety measures into IFC’s new fleet. One of these is its front and rear facing impact cameras, which provides IFC with high-definition real time playback of any impacts detected via the onboard fleet management system.

Management can assess any impact footage to ascertain why the machines had an impact and determine what led to this occurrence. In high impact events the equipment can even be temporarily disabled until an investigation has occurred.

Additional benefits of the fleet management system include access control whereby operators can only operate equipment if they are licenced and recorded correctly in the system, It also captured fleet operational activity allowing clients to better understand and measure equipment utilisation.

Pre-start and post start safety checklists are also completed via the fleet management software and digitally stored on a web-based portal removing the need for paper records. Additionally, a range of system generated reports are available such as equipment hour metre readings and upcoming operator license expiries.

TRANSFORMING OPERATIONS WITH HYSTER-YALE GROUP

Hyster-Yale Group is a US-headquartered company with global manufacturing capability. It installs its market leading range of products all over the world. Its reach trucks, lowlevel order pickers and counterbalance units for the IFC project were all manufactured in Europe.

“We sourced the right product for the customer application,” says Adam. “The reach trucks have a lift height of 11.4 metres and have been fitted with cameras that assist drivers at height ensuring safer operations for IFC”.

“The low-level order pickers are used for case picking and order fulfilment. They’re capable of carrying two pallets simultaneously to increase picking efficiency. The operator platform also raises allowing case picking to occur from the second racking level. The counterbalance forklifts are used to load and unload inbound and outbound vehicles at the facilities as well as containers”.

The fleet is electric powered and relies entirely on batteries. These solutions are sustainable and environmentally friendly as they don’t produce any emissions. They’re also fit-for-purpose products specifically designed for demanding warehouse applications.

IFC engaged in a competitive bid process when determining which solutions provider it wanted to partner with to fit out its new facilities.

“Our offer was the most comprehensive,” explains Adam. “The key reason IFC chose us is because we have great lead times, competitive pricing, and that we offered our unique integrated impact camera and fleet management telemetry system.

The sites are now fully operational, and they have been for some time. The customer is benefitting greatly from the new fleet with additional units on order to further allow IFC to serve its customers and Adaptalift look forward to working with IFC for many years to come. Feel free to contact our team today to find out more about our range of solutions and to discuss your next project or fleet replacement.”

• Hyster Reach Trucks are offered in 1.4 to 2.5 tonne capacity with outstanding all-round visibility and control to meet the demands of every application. Designed and tested in some of the most challenging warehouse environments they provide long-term reliability and durability.
• Hyster Low Level Order Pickers allow for the handling of single and double pallets for case picking applications. Advanced control features and adjustable performance settings allow them to be tailored to each customers application. Large battery capacity make it perfect for dual shift operations.
• The Hyster J2.2 to 3.5XN battery electric counterbalance series has been designed to operate in intensive, high productivity applications with long runs and demanding work cycles. The ergonomically designed operator compartment provides a comfortable environment for operators.

Reference List

• Misuraca, J. (2024) Lifting to new heights with adaptalift, MHD. Available at: https://mhdsupplychain.com.au/2024/05/15/lifting-to-new-heights-with-adaptalift/ (Accessed: 30 May 2024).