A high-performance Linde material handling equipment fleet is helping improve the efficiency of specialised floor covering 3PL company GMK Logistics.

The outstanding ergonomics and operator comfort of the fleet of Linde forklifts and reach trucks chosen by GMK Logistics ensure its operators can complete high-tempo, productive shifts still feeling fresh.

Craig Geary, the Third-Party Logistics Manager at GMK Logistics' 22,000 square metre Gregory Hills warehouse in Sydney, has over a decade of experience, initially driving forklifts and reach trucks of all types and now also managing their operations. For him the impact of the switch to Linde has been immediate and substantial.

GMK Logistics has a national footprint of warehouses with specialised racking for carpet and vinyl rolls as well as pallet racking, bulk storage and sophisticated cutting machines for carpet and vinyl product.

"We have 13 Linde high reach forklifts here," Craig Geary explained. "They can reach up to nine metres high, which is ideal for us because we have heavy rolls of carpet and vinyl stored right up to our top bays. The Linde equipment is more than capable of lifting that for us."

The full GMK Logistics Linde fleet consists of 13 Performance Plus 1120 Series R20HD electric high reach trucks as well as 14 Performance Plus 392 series H25T gas counterbalance forklifts. The new generation Linde reach trucks have individual adjustment options for the air suspension comfort seat including height, lateral movement and lumbar support.

The seat automatically adjusts suspension to the operator's weight and together with the adjustable, integrated control console and the electric steering with variable torque, enables every operator to select their preferred working posture. The workstation, comfort seat and intuitive location of all the operating controls, which include the finger-tip control joysticks, digital instrument display, compact steering wheel and the adjustable, integrated control console, gives the operator assured, total control at all times.

Picking carpet rolls from the top-level racking is a more complex task than everyday forklift driving in a conventional warehouse, but the Linde machines have special high strength masts with exceptional anti-sway characteristics to suit their specialised roles.

Excellent all-round visibility of their loads and surrounding environment is enhanced for GMK Logistics' operators by Linde's torsion-resistant fixed clear view triplex fixed mast with two-cylinder configuration and hydraulic hoses fed through the mast. Cameras, load scales, height indicator and carpet prongs with load plates specially made to GMK's specification also assist the three-shift per day GMK Logistics operation.

"One thing I really love about the Linde forklifts is their dual pedal configuration," Craig Geary commented. "It is very easy to change direction and the steering is also very easy. On our last brand of forklifts there was a need to keep our left foot on a sensor for the forklift to move. At the end of the day when you got off the forklift you would have a pain in your left leg. Now, driving the Linde, everything is very adjustable and within easy reach and I can set the controls the way I like to set them, and I also have 360 degrees of vision. "When we changed to Linde equipment, they organised a familiarisation session. It was only 20 minutes per operator, but pretty much by the end of that day everyone was more than comfortable with Linde.

"Since switching to Linde our pick rates have gone up and we've found that the morale in the team has gone up. Our drivers are more comfortable and at the end of the day they get out of the forklift feeling fresh."

The Gregory Hills site has operated Linde forklifts and reach trucks for more than a year, together with Linde's FleetFOCUS fleet management system, boosting, productivity, safety and operator comfort. FleetFOCUS has proved its worth on several fronts for GMK Logistics, particularly for the safety benefits it can provide. It generates operator licence expiry notifications as well as operator start-up check lists, which management can customise. It also tracks equipment impacts and alerts management to incidents. Operators are very much aware of the system and its impact on accountability, with a dedicated monitor screen in the warehouse office for that specific purpose.

FleetFOCUS also gives the company the ability to monitor equipment utilisation rates - which it can regularly review in conjunction with Linde. GMK Logistics had a fleet management system with its previous forklift fleet, but the Linde system provides far more control and information, right down to how long an operator has been sitting in his seat and how much travel time the truck has had during a shift.

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Linde Material Handling Australia
Tel: 1300 454 633
Web: lindemh.com.au
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