Jayline load protectors were installed on Linde forklifts at Aston Manor's Devon site.

Aston Manor Brewery has installed Jayline Products' load cushions to the Linde forklifts operating at its Devon site.

The family-owned company handles contract bottling and packaging for major supermarkets and leading UK breweries from its Birmingham and Devon facilities.

"If a single can becomes cracked during the handling process and leaks, then the entire load can be spoiled," says Graham Cosslett, factory manager at the Tiverton plant in Devon.

Aston Manor's contract packaging production lines run glass and PET bottles while a can line that was recently installed at the West County facility can fill 72,000 cans an hour.

The electric and diesel forklifts transfer palletised loads of canned cider from the canning line to one of two warehouse units where they are block-stacked before being loaded onto trailers for delivery to clients' distribution centres.

If leakage is not identified before a load is put away in the warehouse or on a trailer, liquid can leak onto the pallets stored below and cause further damage.

Jayline's load cushions help eliminate the risk of damage to Aston Manor's canned products by forming a barrier between the load and the back of the forks as the pallet is picked up.

Fitted to the rear face of a forklift's forks, the cushions prevent the load from hitting the truck's forks or the fork carriage with sufficient force to cause damage to the load.

"Can damage is a significant problem in the drinks industry, so we decided to be proactive and add the load cushions to our forklifts as soon as our canning line became operational," Cosslett explains.

"I am pleased to say that we have not experienced problems with can damage since our can line went live and much of the credit for this must go to the load cushions," he adds.

The load cushions can fit 4 in. (105 mm), 5 in. (130 mm), 6 in. (160 mm) and 8 in. (200 mm) forks and are suitable for use in a wide range of materials handling equipment, including counterbalance and warehouse trucks.