(L to R) Bjorn Quartier, Koen Vanderlinden, Steven Vanhauwaert

TVH staff have worked with two technical school students to design and build a machine that shortens forklifts' heavy chains.

Bjorn Quartier and Steven Vanhauwaert, from the VHTI Technical School, in Kortrijk, Belgium, received help from TVH purchaser Koen Vanderlinden and VHTI supervisor Raf Despenter for their thesis project.

Heavy chains, part of a forklift's mast, are typically shortened manually by removing chain pins from chain plates.

"It's a heavy job for the shoulder joints and metal splinters can cause nasty wounds," TVH said in a statement. "The continuous banging may [also] cause hearing loss."

Existing chain-cutting machines are not designed to shorten heavy chains. The students' goal was to design and create a heavy chain cutter.

TVH will use the cutter in its daily operations and, if necessary, perfect it for use by its sister companies. "TVH is thinking about using the machine in China since this heavy chain market is growing rapidly," the statement said.