New forklift attachment breakthrough transforms warehouse costs

 As all warehouse operators know, the cost of space has many facets and so is not confined to fixed costs like rent/rates, maintenance and security. Space can also affect forklift productivity in terms of pallets moved per hour and even road transport. With that in mind, the British forklift innovator, Translift Bendi, developed its mould-breaking articulated forklift in the 1980s that transformed warehouse economics like no other but there was always a perceived barrier in the minds of some users who were subject to large swings in truck usage and therefore felt they could not justify the cost of articulated trucks full-time owing to their significantly higher initial cost compared with counterbalance and reach trucks.

To resolve that issue Translift Bendi has patented what they claim is a unique breakthrough, called the SpaceMate, which is an attachment like no other that fits any forklift with no modification and without compromising the truck's sideways' stability. This means that potential buyers could use the SpaceMate to reduce operating aisle widths to 1.8 mt at one third of the cost of an articulated truck or one fifth of a conventional VNA truck.

The SpaceMate would allow conventional forklifts to provide back-up in narrow aisles during busy, seasonal periods or as a standby if a truck breaks down. It is not meant to replace the articulated forklifts but rather complement them because many potential users are deterred from narrowing their aisles by the perceived high initial cost of an articulated truck. Thus, SpaceMate is an entry level solution, with the additional benefit for some users who can only afford one narrow aisle machine and may feel too vulnerable to depend on one machine and so stay with reach or counterbalance trucks.

Weighing 450 kg, with plans to make it lighter, the SpaceMate will take up only one pallet position in the racking, while waiting for breakdowns or on standby for busy periods. The Spacemate is not just designed for end users. It is also aimed at truck manufacturers and dealers who now have a low-cost "off-the-shelf" VNA solution, that can fit in the back of a service van, and be fitted by the end user with a bare minimum of training.

In operation, lasers visually positon the forklift in the ideal spot. The truck's sideshift function extends two bridge arms out of the SpaceMate into the pallet racking either side of the pallet location. The arms are tilted down slightly and placed anywhere from two to 700 mm above the racking beams. The arms are lowered until they rest with four points in contact with the racking. The "bridge" positon actuates the fork carriage, allowing it to travel out in between the bridge arms and lower the pallet into position on the racking beams.

Also suited to both gas and diesel, the SpaceMate's electrical requirement is provided by a rechargeable battery, so electrical supply from the truck is not needed. Having consulted with SEMA, Britain's experts on safety standards for pallet racking, Translift Bendi built in safety features which they believe make it far safer than conventional trucks in a number of areas. The SpaceMate's working height is only limited by the truck's maximum working height, and is easier to use at height than conventional forklifts because height selection is designed out of the system.

As any user of articulated forklifts knows the mast arrangement can swivel to either side when within racking aisles, thus enabling them to deposit and retrieve a pallet load on different sides of the aisle without having to leave the aisle and then turn around for access re-entry. This is not possible with SpaceMate, but probably more than half of all forklift pallet movements do not require that function.

Verdict: Certainly worth a second look for certain operating scenarios.

www.translift.co.uk
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SpaceMate in action

Will Trump learn history's lessons?

Whenever making statements at the hustings Presidential candidates often make political promises that remain unfulfilled after being elected. Hopefully, we can expect the same from Donald Trump in certain arenas, provided his advisers' words are heeded, and where they must be heeded most of all is in the field of economics. It is here that he will stand or fall in any post Trump presidency assessment and it is here, if all his pre and  post election promises are carried out, the greatest dangers lurk for all Americans and the world beyond.

Not all of Trump's pledges are unsound. The promise to shore up America's parlous, crumbling infrastructure will go down well with job-strapped voters. His economic policies with a foreign element to them, however, leave much to be desired, and could even lead to unrest at home. Take, for example, his promise to slap a 45% tariff on Chinese imports as part of a home jobs protection move. Trump should remember that according to the US Treasury the largest foreign holder of US debt is China, which owns more than $1.24 trillion in bills, notes and bonds, or about 30% of the over $4 trillion in Treasury bills, etc, held by foreign countries. In total, China owns about 7.2% of publicly- held US debt. If China stops buying America's IOUs then interest rates could rise, with knock-on effects for inflation.

China's trade with America over the last 20 years or so has been of enormous benefit to both countries, especially in helping to keep America's inflation down. Slapping huge tariff rises on Chinese imports in general would be another inflationary move that would hit the poor much harder than the rich and plunge an already battered merchant marine into greater despair. China is now ostensibly switching its economy away from an export-oriented one to a home consumer-led one and so the last thing America needs is to suffer retaliatory tariff measures. Trump's tariffs would be blatantly WTO inconsistent and so China could go straight to the WTO and would easily win the right to impose retaliatory tariffs on US exports.

In the political arena, Trump has threatened to rip up America's commitment to protect smaller NATO nations. One of the figures wrongly bandied about is that of NATO's 2015 total spending of about $900 billion the US share was $650 billion, or 72%. When looked at in detail, however, the US share is only about 22%, a good example of deception by omission, so favoured by many politicians. Weakening NATO now would not be a smart move.

In the social arena Trump's promises will also have serious economic repercussions if carried out. He has promised to deport 12 million illegal immigrants, something many Californian employers will view with palpable alarm. Trump's naïve views over building a 1,000-mile long wall along the Mexican border are the stuff of cloud cuckoo land. There is no wall that could not be breached, as history shows from the Great Wall of China to Hadrian's wall.

Most of all, Trump should remember two things. In terms of votes cast, Clinton polled fractionally more than Trump and already we have seen the first of riotous rumblings in Oakland, perhaps partly showing dissatisfaction over the electoral college system, so in essence he does not carry the majority support. Secondly, trade is the handmaiden of prosperity and prosperity is the surest guarantor of peace. Failure to see that would be what the ancient Greeks called hubris --- the outrageous arrogance that leads to abuse of power.
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