Tool manufacturer Makita hopes to reduce its racking repair bill with a new fleet of Mitsubishi forklifts, order pickers and reachstackers.

Workers at Makita's warehouse in Milton Keynes were finding the narrow 2.7-metre-wide aisles challenging to manoeuvre around, regularly damaging the racking.

“We were spending GBP18,000 (USD22,875) a year on racking repairs,” says Patrick Ellis, manager of the warehouse.

After consulting with Josh Baxter, Mitsubishi Forklift territory manager, the Makita warehouse trialled a 1.6 T RB16N3 reach stacker, which has a shorter chassis and lifts to 7 m.

“It was fantastic,” says Ellis.

The warehouse fleet now comprises three 1.6 T Mitsubishi EDiA EM counterbalance forklifts, seven 2 T Mitsubishi VELiA ES order pickers and seven RB16N3 reachstackers, all with next generation lead acid batteries.

“The EDiA trucks are used to load and unload from lorries,” says Ellis. “But the reach trucks were key for us. They are used over 14 hours a day taking pallets from racking to pickable locations.”

The RB16N3 reach stacker has a stability support system that automatically optimises hydraulic functions such as mast tilt for safer and quicker pallet retrieval.

“The trucks have the best ergonomics,” Ellis says. “We have the mini steering wheel and joystick on the EDiA and RB reach trucks which allow for comfortable driving over long shifts.”

All trucks in the new fleet were fitted with blue spotlights to alert pedestrians to their presence.

A fleet management system was also added to ensure greater operator accountability as it records any incidents and who was driving.