Histon Sweet Spreads deploys tow tractor

WITH RESIDENTIAL property bordering the busy operation Histon Sweet Spreads go to great lengths to minimise the amount of noise generated.

Histon Sweet Spreads’ site services and FLT supervisor Danny Ivatt, explains: “A certain amount of noise from commercial or industrial premises is to be expected but we have always been very aware of the fact that excessive or unreasonable sound could constitute a problem for the people that live in the houses nearby, especially if the noise continues through the night.”

When a resident of one of the domestic properties that adjoin the production site’s boundary drew Histon’s attention to the noise created by a lift truck that uses an unmade road to shuttle between different areas of the site, Histon Sweet Spreads immediately set about finding a way to nullify the problem.

The company consulted its long-term materials handling equipment provider Toyota Material Handling (UK) for a solution.

Studies undertaken by Toyota highlighted that it took the lift truck six minutes to cover the distance between the site’s ‘jelly line’ and the finished goods warehouse. Once a pallet of ‘jelly’ had been deposited within the finished goods store, the forklift made the return journey – which involved another six minutes of travel time. 

With loads coming off of the ‘jelly line’ at a rate of 5 or 6 per hour the lift truck’s 12 minute return trip to the storage unit and back via the rough surface of the road often meant the truck operator was up against the clock.

Toyota recommended replacing the forklift with a tow tractor. Because a tow tractor fitted with a trailer allows several loads to be transported by one vehicle, the number of journeys between the ‘jelly line’ and the finished goods store has been cut to one every hour, instead of the five or six 12 minute forklift trips that had previously been necessary.