The Hubtex MQ40 multi-directional electric sideloader

Aluminium profile producer Sapa Building Systems Ltd has turned to Hubtex UK for its materials handling needs after it moved into its new premises.

Sapa's 116,000 sqft (10,776 sqm) premises in Tewkesbury Business Park enabled the company to merge its two operations in Gloucestershire into a single site with scope for future expansion. The company, which is part of the Sapa Group, celebrates its 50th anniversary next year.

The move has led to a complete change in the way product is handled, says Nigel Eley, Sapa Building Systems operations director.

"Aluminium bars, in 5 m (16 ft.) and 7 m (23 ft.) lengths, were delivered in stillages and then taken out individually and stored vertically," Eley says. "It was a space-efficient way of storing the product, but we were concerned about possible health and safety issues and double handling meant that it was labour-intensive. We also needed a more efficient stock identification system."

After a thorough consultation process with Hubtex, Sapa decided to store the product horizontally in stillages and in a 10 m (33 ft.) high purpose-built narrow-aisle racking system using Hubtex MQ40 multi-directional electric sideloaders.

While the MQ40 is compact and highly manoeuvrable, it was the truck's ability to be tailored to suit Sapa's specific needs that made the difference.

"Handling 7 m (23 ft.) stillages in narrow aisles up to a height of 10 m means that all available safety features and efficiency enhancements had to be considered," Eley explains.

He says Sapa completed a detailed risk and operational analysis and concluded that its main concerns were "operating in narrow aisles, especially after we had been used to conventional forklifts, and visibility when accessing the stillages at height as well as pedestrians coming into contact with the machines when out of aisles".

The MQ40 trucks have in-aisle wire guidance to enable low-level picking and minimise the risk of product and racking damage, built-in sensors to control the trucks' speed and braking, and camera and pre-height selectors to enable the safe handling of loads at height.

Hubtex (UK) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hubtex Maschinenbau GmbH & Co of Fulda, Germany, and was launched in the UK in 1999. The modern handling centre in Milton Keynes also houses the comprehensive Service and Parts operation.