Trucks run straight and true

Wire-guided orderpickers reduce risks of breaking or scratching Stickley's furniture pieces while the trucks speed up operations.

By -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/1/2000

Stickley Furniture, Manlius, N.Y., builds each chair, table, chest, hutch, desk or bed to order, one at a time for its customers. Skilled craftsmen hand fit and custom detail each piece, creating heirloom-quality works of art. The company's roots stretch back more than a century to master artisans.

So when a furniture piece was occasionally damaged in its very-narrow-aisle (VNA) storage system, Stickley management was concerned about the damage-and what to do about it.

Rail-guided orderpickers operating in the VNA system were responsible for the damage. The platform on a VNA lift truck would damage stored furniture pieces because of the rail-guided truck's inability to travel down an aisle without swaying back and forth.

"It didn't happen often, but it happened often enough that we had to adjust all our movements to the possibility," recalls Jeff Mantell, warehouse distribution manager. "If truck operators traveled too quickly, the truck's rocking motion between its rail guides was enough to increase the possibility of the platform coming into contact with furniture stored in the VNA system."

Rail-guided orderpickers also broke down frequently in Stickley's prior VNA system. Wear and tear caused by the rails exacerbated the trucks' condition.

Mantell explored the possibilities of switching to wire-guided orderpickers and to a new truck supplier. Ultimately, Stickley chose an orderpicker system featuring "no-tune" wire guidance. Each truck automatically picks up and "learns" the wire frequency without need for adjustment. The trucks also make a smoother transition from manual to guided operation compared to the old rail system.

"We run platforms on our trucks, so they are four feet longer than traditional orderpickers," says Mantell. "We also operate with about five inches of clearance on each side of the aisle between the furniture and the racks.

"Yet, even with the extra long load and little room for error, the new orderpickers run incredibly straight and true. Our people can now ride down the aisles at 4, 5, or even 6 miles per hour without fear of damaging the furniture in the racks.

"That confidence," Mantell continues, "means greater efficiency. In fact, changing to the new trucks has dramatically improved our productivity."

The new equipment also is more reliable than the rail-guided vehicles. Scheduled maintenance and fast service from a dealer "are helping minimize our downtime," Mantell adds.
Raymond Corporation
800-235-7200
www.raymondcorp.com