The Atlet forklift in use at the Bracknell warehouse

BMW UK has deferred investing in a new warehouse by using its current warehouse more efficiently with the help of Atlet forklifts.

The subsidiary of the German luxury car manufacturer acquired new Atlet Tergo URF narrow aisle swivel reach trucks for its central parts distribution warehouse in Bracknell, United Kingdom.

BMW UK's operation has grown in the past five years as it has extended its range and integrated parts distribution for the Mini.

"Each new model generates around 1500 new parts for us to stock," said parts distribution manager Martin Douglas. "We need to stock more parts than before."

While BMW has established efficient ways to transport and store body panels, bonnets and bumpers on special packs, pallets and stillages, it recognised it could improve the picking operation.

After a review to identify areas of improvement, the picking area was reconfigured with a decreased footprint so it could handle increasing volumes.

"[By moving] to racking we increased the storage capacity 40 per cent and made picking more efficient," Douglas said. "With a narrow aisle configuration we could get an extra storage aisle but that meant we needed a new sort of truck."

The company decided on the Atlet trucks after consulting its forklift operators.

The new forklift has helped BMW improve load selectivity in the body panel picking area at its warehouse.

Atlet Tergo URF swivel reach trucks' tynes can rotate through 180 degrees so loads can be stacked to either side of an aisle without turning the whole truck around.

The truck can operate in aisles as narrow as 1.6 metres and has a load capacity of 1500kg.