Why picking the right materials handling partner makes a difference
Efficiently moving of materials and goods is crucial to so many businesses, whether thats in a busy manufacturing or processing operation, or in a classic logistics business dealing with hundreds of products in a fast-moving market. In so many companies logistics is a crucial component, central to overall effectiveness. So its vital to choose a material handling partner that knows the business well, understands the pressures and can respond accordingly when help is needed.
It goes beyond just selecting the right forklift or warehouse equipment supplier as important as that undoubtedly is. For many companies, especially small or medium sized, having a partner that is local and experienced adds a critical extra element service at the drop of a hat and support that has your back.
For one Midlands based company which distributes a wide range of seasonal goods throughout the UK from a central warehouse, having materials handling partner TCM forklift dealer, Amvar Handling Solutions, meant they could afford to operate a smaller warehouse forklift fleet, as they could confidently rely on a high level of service and support. This reduced the need for spare capacity and minimised the risk of disruptive downtime. An excellent example of trust and confidence in a key supplier.
For Kettler UK, having a strong working relationship with their forklift partner has practical benefits for them. Kettler UK runs an extremely busy sales and distribution operation that is geared to respond to multiple seasons. Their diverse product range reaches from pedal go-karts, to garden furniture, to gym equipment. In spring and summer there is a demand for their garden furniture sets, whilst during the Christmas season demand rises for their ever popular go-karts and there is even a post new year peak for gym equipment as January resolutions mean more keep-fit intentions.
A fast response business model
As a logistics operation, Kettler UK claim to be best in class. That is what their customers say, so Operations Manager John Newburn and his team intend to remain a top performing business. Its partly due to this highly responsive and customer focused approach that Kettler UK has enjoyed two successive years that measure the best in the companys recent history.
Importing between 400 and 500 products from both the German Kettler parent manufacturer or from other sources worldwide, plus an extensive range of spare parts that are sourced and stocked ready to provide a 3-5 day delivery response, its an intense picking and distribution operation.
To make things even more complicated, Kettler UK will deliver just about any size of consignment from a single item order to large articulated loads. With over 300 delivery points across the entire UK and Ireland it is clear why customers love them for the level of responsiveness and reliability.
As retailers and stockists carry smaller stocks, all floor space is required to earn. This means more sales display space and less inventory which requires distributors like Kettler UK to really be on their toes when orders arrive.
We are always set up to respond to demand. A warm spell in the spring or summer can result in a sudden and urgent demand for garden furniture, explains John Newburn. Orders and deliveries will usually then be more frequent with demand for small consignments as retailers try to align stock to meet fluctuating customer demand.
Logistics on the front line
At the heart of the warehouse operation is a small fleet of TCM forklifts, supplied and supported by locally based TCM dealer, Amvar Handling Solutions.
They have just added a 1.4T reach truck and a 2.0T electric counterbalanced forklift under a lease arrangement, which now form the frontline of their logistics process.
Amvar play a key role in supporting the Kettler UK operation ensuring trucks provide maximum up-time and any failures or faults are corrected in the shortest possible period. The fact that they are local and have a good knowledge of Kettler UKs business and seasonal demands means that they are geared to respond accordingly.
John Newburn is keen to work with local suppliers especially where this can be critical to business efficiency. We cant afford downtime during our peak periods, but we know that we will get a priority call immediately if there is a problem. Amvar has a long-standing relationship with us and will resolve things quickly, he said. Without that level of service and back-up on our doorstep we would need to operate additional fork trucks to provide ourselves with the top-cover against breakdowns that otherwise would cause blockages in our system. We cannot afford to let our customers down.
In effect, the local dealer relationship provides a level of trust and confidence that allows Kettler UK to run a leaner materials handling fleet, saving cost and reducing complexity.
Global, trusted brand
Malcolm Mitchell, MD of Birmingham-based Amvar Handling Solutions, is understandably an advocate of his locally-based and customer focused business model. We combine a best-of-both, bolting a global, trusted brand like TCM forklifts to our own knowledge and experience of local business needs and demands, to offer a first-class local service. Its personalised to suit each customer and reflects their individual business requirements, he said.
Similarly, in the busy sector of engineering services for precision engineered components such as metal treatments, the efficient flow of product and material is equally important and therefore so too is a high level of back-up from a locally based materials handling partner.
Fast-moving business environments
Based in the heart of the UKs automotive and components industry, Midland Deburr and Finish are in the business of surface finishing, providing a range of surface treatment processes at the Dudley service centre. Essentially they offer deburring, degreasing and metal cleaning services as a subcontractor to the metal components manufacturing sector. And whilst that is largely automotive related they also have customers across all manufacturing. Their sister company Midland Impregnations, usefully located on the same site, offers a casting porosity impregnation service which complements and adds extra capabilities to the surface improvement focus of the business.
Inevitably with such a specialised business operating in a fast-moving business environment and with highly demanding and expanding customers, the pressure to perform can be immense. Its expected that consignment parts will be received, processed and returned within a 1-2 day turnaround. That in itself is a big logistical challenge, especially as consignments can be mixed or often presented as a new problem.
Managing Director Chris Arrowsmith describes their role as taking away customers problems. We respond to problems, take them away and resolve them. That is how we satisfy our customers, is how he neatly defines it. Essentially its about quality providing finishing technologies that add value by improving surface quality to a given engineering requirement or standard.
In such a pressure-cooker environment, Chris also knows that he cannot afford to be let down by his suppliers and as logistics is such a key part of his operation, that means having a forklift truck supplier as a trusted business partner.
Midland Deburr and Finish have known local TCM forklift dealer, Amvar Handling Solutions for a few years and have built a solid relationship based on strong trust and confidence that they will be there when they are needed.
We are highly dependent on our forklifts and cannot afford to lose them through faults or failures. Happily, Amvar is a local company, we know them and they know us, so they respond immediately to any problems we have, explained Chris. So when the decision to replace an aging truck was made, there was little hesitation about choosing the local TCM dealer Amvar. Although alternative suppliers were considered, Chris felt that the combination of a local, trusted dealer with experienced service engineers and a major proven forklift product European built TCM was the best option.
Thanks to their common components platform, TCM offer a 90% of faults fixed on first service call. This means that businesses like Midland Deburr and Finish, which are highly dependent on a small fleet of intensely operated forklift trucks get another layer of reassurance and reliability.
The new TCM Gas CB truck, has also proven to be a cost saver to the business. The old truck was starting to become just too uneconomical and it made sense to acquire a new truck with a maintenance package included in a lease deal.
We appreciated the advice and the level of service we received. We are not pushed to some anonymous call centre and wait our turn in a queue, we speak to the team at Amvar and get a rapid response. In our demanding and interdependent world that is worth a lot, observed Chris.
TCM is part of a top-10 global forklift truck business. Products are designed and built in Europe to EU specification and served by an integrated network of independent dealers across the UK.
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