Jungheinrich UK has provided leading independent paper merchant, Premier Paper, with the UK’s first lithium-ion battery powered Kombi order picker and trilateral stacker for operating the very narrow aisles of its main distribution centre in Minworth, Birmingham.
The EKX 516 Kombi is the only lithium-ion powered truck of the specification for integrating with the site’s unique storage rack layout, at the required lift height. It opens the door for Premier Paper to deploy lithium-ion technology for the first time, and will allow the site, which runs shifts 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, to significantly increase operational efficiency through materials handling equipment alone.
As Premier Paper’s central hub, the Minworth distribution centre leads 18 depots nationwide in moving more than 2,000 pallets every day, facilitating sales of 250,000 tonnes of paper each year, and hitting an annual turnover of £225 million. Relying on shift work to cover the site’s 24x5 operations, Premier Paper required a truck with a longer battery life, more suitable for opportune charging, to increase throughput and reduce downtime.
As Simon Kennedy, Central Operations Manager, Premier Paper, explains: “Having previously approached Jungheinrich to source two factory refurbished Kombis for our site in Langley, we were impressed with the level of service provided and decided to discuss requirements for our Minworth operation with them too. Jungheinrich worked consultatively with us to find the exact solution to meet these needs, and offered a competitive price in doing so. The team was initially looking at bespoke ways to provide us with larger, more powerful lead-acid replacement batteries with a two shift operating capability, even involving their battery specialist colleague from Germany in order to provide us with the best solution, when the lithium-ion EKX 516 Kombi launched.
“The new Kombi promises to have a huge impact on the site’s level of efficiency and productivity, as operators will no longer have to spend time changing batteries, there is no battery maintenance required, and, most importantly, the truck can be charged during break times so that it can be in near continuous use. The lithium-ion battery is also more energy efficient, in line with our environmental values, but until now, the extremely narrow aisles of our distribution centre have limited the equipment available to us. We’re delighted there’s now the opportunity to unlock these gains from our distribution centre by implementing such an easy solution from Jungheinrich.”
Steve Shakespeare, Business Director, Jungheinrich UK, concludes: “With the increasing pressure placed on distribution centres to deliver around the clock, we strongly believe lithium-ion technology will soon become the standard energy storage system in intralogistics, and we’re committed to making it as accessible as possible for our customers. Already, lithium-ion batteries feature on more than 90 per cent of Jungheinrich trucks and we continue to lead the way in its research and development. We’re pleased to have helped Premier Paper introduce lithium-ion technology to its Minworth operation and look forward to supporting the team during its transition.”
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Notes for editors:
About Premier Paper
The Premier Paper Group is the UK’s leading independent paper merchant, offering a nationwide service through its network of 18 branches. Premier Paper holds 30,000 tonnes of paper, offering some 6500 different items from many of the world’s leading paper and substrate manufacturers.
The group is ISO 9001, ISO 14001 accredited (the first UK merchant to achieve this back in 1997), as well as being FSC and PEFC certified.
About Jungheinrich UK Ltd
Jungheinrich UK Ltd is one of the top three leading intralogistics providers in the UK, generating a turnover of over £210 million annually. With a team of more than 800 dedicated and highly experienced employees, operating from seven locations across the UK, Jungheinrich offers the industry’s widest range of intralogistics solutions, high energy efficiency pallet trucks, stackers, electric forklift trucks, reach trucks, order pickers, very narrow aisle trucks, automated guided vehicles, racking and stacker cranes in more than 600 truck variants, new or fully refurbished. All used forklift trucks are industrially refurbished in accordance with Jungheinrich 5-star quality standards at the specially designed Dresden plant in Germany. In addition, Jungheinrich provides an extensive, 500-employee strong, customer service support network and has one of the largest short term forklift rental fleets in the UK. The company has evolved from a manufacturer of forklift trucks to a full intralogistics solutions provider, excelling in automation, racking systems and warehouse planning, as well as in long and short term rental and financial services. The company is a division of the Jungheinrich AG Group, which is represented worldwide in 40 countries with its own direct sales companies and in more than 80 other countries through partner companies. Jungheinrich employs more than 16,000 people worldwide and generated consolidated net sales of €3.4 billion in 2017.
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Heather Oates / Francesca Bull
Neo PR Ltd
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