Hyster Built Productivity for Ibstock Brick
More Productivity and Uptime
One of Britain’s largest manufacturers of clay products, Ibstock Brick Ltd is getting more productivity and uptime at its Merseyside facility thanks to new Hyster Fortens forklift trucks.
The Roughdales Factory, located near St. Helens, is one of 24 Ibstock facilities across the United Kingdom, operating seven days a week and manufacturing over 30 million bricks yearly for domestic and commercial projects.
The fully automated manufacturing process is assisted by three Hyster Fortens H4.0FT Advance trucks, each equipped with a double pallet handler attachment, doubling the number of handling cycles per hour. One truck supports the production process, while the others are used for two eight-hour shifts, Monday to Friday, to off-load packs of bricks from the production line, and store them in the stockyard. The vehicles are also used to load trucks for customer deliveries.
The Fortens machines are the first Hyster trucks to operate at an Ibstock site and having already proved their reputation for excellent dependability, Ibstock subsequently ordered two additional Fortens, an H1.6FT and an H2.5FT.
The operator’s cab on the Fortens range offers excellent all-round visibility and provides the driver with a comfortable working environment including features such as the e-hydraulic mini-levers on the adjustable armrest, a fully adjustable full-suspension seat, adjustable steering column, a clear and conveniently located dash display, heater and radio. To improve stability on uneven surfaces an “HSM” stability mechanism fitted to the trucks gives a smoother ride which reduces driver fatigue over the duration of the shift.
The H4.0FT Advance trucks also feature the electronically controlled DuraMatch transmission which features two forward speeds, providing excellent performance over long runs. The transmission also offers the Auto Deceleration System (ADS) and Controlled Power Reversal (CPR) enabling the driver to change direction smoothly without removing his foot from the accelerator pedal. Together, these features promote smooth handling and help to prevent loads being damaged or shed at Ibstock, as well as reducing tyre and brake wear, service downtime and overall operating costs.
Ibstock receives a comprehensive local support service from Hyster’s local distribution partner to ensure that productivity is optimised and sustained at the Ibstock facility.
