Mole Valley Forage Services

Fertiliser manufacturer Mole Valley Forage Services runs a tough blending and bagging facility, handling 75,000 tonnes of fertiliser a year.

Bulk raw material is delivered by ship, which is stored, blended, packed in 600kg bags and then transferred to quayside warehouses.

Mole Valley Forage Services is a joint venture company between Mole Valley Farmers Ltd., a farmer controlled co-operative with nine branches in the South West and many smaller stores throughout the UK, and Group Roullier, an international fertiliser manufacturing and distribution business.

The company required compact lift trucks with a high lift capacity.

• Met the specific operational requirements by providing compact Spacesaver material handler equipment with a high lift capacity, to support the demanding application
• Ensured the lift trucks were fit for purpose through a site survey carried out with the local distribution partner and forklift maintenance
• Provided extra protection on key components on the space- saving truck to help ensure continued reliability

• Overall operational efficiency has been increased thanks to the compact Hyster® Fortens® Spacesaver forklift truck, which enables the highly experienced drivers to pick and load flatbed or curtain sided lorries extremely quickly. The operators load bags three deep and two wide on each cycle which means they only have to access one side of the lorry, resulting in just eight lifts to load 48 bags
• Productivity is enhanced thanks to the compact Spacesaver, which offers a 7 tonne lift capacity, yet is short and narrow enough for the operation. According to the customer, the Hyster Fortens Spacesaver truck is the only diesel forklift the company could find to suit the operation, as trucks from other brands with this high lift capacity are physically much bigger
• The materials handling equipment at Mole Valley has been optimised thanks to a site survey conducted by Hyster and its local distribution partner, which helped to ensure the equipment supplied would be fit for purpose
• Continued reliability has been ensured even in the hostile and dirty environment of Mole Valley’s operation, in which corrosive products are handled, through the provision of extra protection and forklift maintenance on key components of the space saving truck
• Downtime has been reduced due to the equipment being supplied on a full service contract with the local Hyster® distribution partner, which provides planned maintenance service and fast local engineer response
• Operation expenditure is kept to a minimum thanks to the reliability of the Hyster equipment, combined with local support from the distribution partner.