The OI Glass site produces about 2,500 pallets in a 24-hour period.

WH Malcolm faced a challenging environment in its logistics contract with OI Glass when deciding on a new forklift fleet for the manufacturer's site in Alloa, Scotland.

Not only is the operation area at the facility narrow, but forklifts have to work under molten glass dripping from a furnace overhead.

Citing fuel savings benefits, operator comfort, lifetime cost and a strong brand as deciding factors, WH Malcolm has replaced OI Glass's old fleet with 28 Linde forklifts.

Freddy Solomon, WH Malcolm's warehouse director, says he is particularly impressed by the forklift manufacturer's provision of demonstrator trucks to be tested at the plant. A H40D diesel forklift that can be used in the tough conditions under the furnace and a Linde H25T demonstrator model especially built to the client's specification were supplied.

"We extensively tested the trucks supplied to us (and) found out through our own in-house tests that these products were right for our application," Solomon explains. The demonstrator models' fuel consumption proved to be at least 20% lower than competitors' trucks for OI Glass's high intensity application.

WH Malcolm ordered three H40D trucks for working under the furnace. Built in Germany, the forklifts have special features including special safety glass for the windscreen, additional protection for the rubber hoses and side impact bars to prevent truck damage in confined spaces. Another 13 H25Ts are used in the production, warehouse, engineering and recycling areas of the plant. Eleven of the forklifts have been fitted with Cascade double pallet handlers, which have been modified for the operation.

Solomon says the trucks' hydrostatic transmission provides a "key benefit" for OI Glass, which had experienced downtime issues with contamination of brake drums on conventional trucks.

Ten H16T LPG forklifts are used, mostly for factory work and two T20SP ride-on power pallet trucks are used in the packaging area.

"It is good to have a local supplier and the sales staff have been very professional," Solomon comments on the set-up of Linde Scotland. The OI Glass site produces about 2,500 pallets in a 24-hour period and WH Malcolm manages all of the site-based logistics activity from production line to final customer delivery.