Australian-owned Tru Blu Beverages has achieved its aim of material handling cost reduction by switching to a fleet of Linde forklifts.
Comparison tests during the selection process highlighted the advantages which have continued since the new fleet went into service.
Tru Blu Beverages operates plants in New South Wales, Queensland and Perth, producing well-known brands such as Waterfords, Pub Squash, LA Ice Cola and Wicked Energy.
With production plants running 24/7 and warehouses operating two shifts for five days each week, Tru Blu sought savings in LPG consumption and forklift tyre costs.
"When we began investigating a new material handling equipment fleet we had been dealing with our previous supplier for nearly 20 years," NSW warehouse manager Dave Stanford said.
"We weren't familiar with what other equipment providers could offer, so we were sceptical initially about Linde's claims of LPG fuel economy improvements of up to 30 per cent."
The selection process at Tru Blu was a national one for the company and involved trials with equipment from four manufacturers.
Dave Stanford organised a direct comparison test once he had a Linde H35T forklift on trial at Tru Blu's CondellPark production and warehouse facility in Sydney.
"While we still had the previous equipment on site, we trialled a 3.5 tonne, twin pallet handler of that make against the Linde H35T," he said.
"They both had the same size gas bottle, so we just filled them with gas and operated them as we normally would. The Linde continued working for another four or five hours after the other truck needed refuelling."
Despite the encouraging LPG gas consumption results achieved during the on-site tests before the decision to go with Linde,? Dave Stanford made a second 'real-world' comparison test one of his top priorities once the new Linde fleet had settled into routine operations.
Those test results revealed the Linde equipment is indeed providing the major cost saving on LPG fuel that was promised.
In June and July 2012, Tru Blu's previous fleet of forklifts at the CondellPark site recorded monthly LPG costs of $15,511 and $17,277 respectively.
In June and July 2013, using Linde forklifts, the monthly LPG costs dropped to $8,840 and $10,961 respectively.
"I know that we shipped a similar quantity of product over the same two-month period last year, so the results are completely legitimate," Dave Stanford said. "The gas cost this year with Linde has been much less than last year with our previous supplier's equipment.
"The best thing is that despite the big fuel cost savings we are actually getting more performance out of the equipment. Loading and unloading just seems to be a lot easier and a lot quicker."
These productivity gains made possible by the new fleet mean that the CondellPark plant's material handling equipment needs are now met by 12 Linde forklifts accomplishing the work of the 15 forklifts previously used.
The smoothness of Linde's hydrostatic drive has also produced another benefit for Tru Blu Beverages' production and warehouse sites.
"With our previous forklifts, there was always a lot of black rubber dust left around in the areas where the forklifts operated," Dave Stanford recalls. "With Linde's hydrostatic drive you can't spin the tyres, and so you don't get that residue.
"So far the indications are that we will get at least a year's wear out of the tyres, which is much better than looking at new tyres for our forklifts after seven or eight months as we did previously."