Narrow Aisles no problem. German company, Linde Material Handling (MH), is the European market leader in the custom industrial truck and lifting industry, with an annual sales value of €3,077 billion in 2014. Part of the Kion Group Linde MH is among the world’s foremost makers of forklifts and warehouse trucks.
According to Dr Ralf Dingeldein, Vice President of New Trucks at Linde MH, providing customised options to industrial trucks is the fastest growing niche in the materials handling segment.
Dingeldein said more customers need customised vehicle solutions to reduce cost and improve material flow in and around warehouses. To cope with thousands of customised solutions annually, Linde MH has integrated the manufacture of these trucks into the series production process wherever possible. Best practices in custom solutions often make their way into such series production.
This self-supporting vehicle, which can lift loads of up to 600kg
One example is the Linde L06 AC AP, a compact counterbalance pallet stacker. This self-supporting vehicle, which can lift loads of up to 600kg, was developed to gently handle pallets made of corrugated cardboard at one of the world’s largest furniture companies. The Linde L06 AC AP stacker uses cantilever forks on very compact dimensions.
It can lift any type of load carrier, including Euro pallets, crossways. It has a short wheelbase and set back mast with folding stand-on platform measuring just over 2,4 metres in length to fit into narrow aisles.
“With this new customised solution, we open up a broad spectrum of applications, far beyond this individual case,” says Tobias Zierhut, Head of Product Marketing at Linde Material Handling.
“Possible fields of application are found, for example, in production and assembly, or in warehouses with narrow aisles.”
“Possible fields of application are found, for example, in production and assembly, or in warehouses with narrow aisles.” Dingeldein said customised option specialists accompany each new design from the placing of the order all the way through to manufacture, irrespective of the production plant in question. “Versatility, user friendliness, robustness and efficiency are the four major values of the Linde brand,” said Dingeldein. “And of course these apply to our customised solutions, too.”
Global trend Over the past 10 years, no other industrial truck segment has experienced growth comparable to that seen in the ‘Customised Options’ sector, known as CO for short. Linde Material Handling’s unit for technical modifications has grown from 20% in 2004 to 34% last year.
With dedicated CO teams in the factories and adapted production processes, Linde MH is well prepared for the trend towards an increasing share of tailor-made solutions.