Better sourcing approach

The company employs more than 17,500 people including over 5,000 in the UK. Simon Hill has the role of plant and logistics manager at Cape and among his duties are the management of materials handling equipment for the UK arm of the business.

With a wide variety of fork lift trucks sourced through many hire companies, one of Simon’s first tasks was to modernise and reorganise the way this equipment was procured. 

Already acting as a major supplier to Cape, materials handling specialists Hessle were approached to supply the Cape Offshore operation in Aberdeen with a modern and reliable solution to meet their handling requirements.  

Hessle has provided the company with a wide range of solutions for over a decade including supply rough terrain, counterbalance, telescopic and sideloading fork-lifts to the company. Looking to offer an extended line up of rigid mast forklifts, Hessle have recently purchased three new Hyundai machines in order to fully meet their client’s extensive list of requirements for their Aberdeen operation. 

The three machines have been delivered to the Aberdeen depot to facilitate the movement and loading of materials destined for use on Cape contracts both onshore and offshore for major Blue Chip producers.

“We wanted to change four older machines for three more environmentally friendly, cost effective and reliable machines.” explains Simon. “We drew up a list of must haves for the new trucks, including good all round vision, full lighting, load weight indicators, fork positioners and importantly the most up-to-date, fuel efficient low emission engines, we got all these things and I’m especially pleased with the fitment of engines that meet the most recent EU emissions regulations.

Cape took on 3.5, 5 and 16 tonne capacity machines.

“We have not had Hyundai forklifts in our fleet before but were very impressed by the specification and the attention to detail on all three units,” continues Simon.

The smaller trucks are fitted with four cylinder Kubota diesel engines delivering power through a power shift transmission with two forward and two reverse speeds. Heavy duty axles with wet disc brakes ensure easy operation, smooth response and are virtually maintenance free. The 35D-9A and 50D-9A both benefit from a spacious cabin with wide low access. All controls fall easily to hand and with a fully adjustable operators seat and steering wheel ensure fatigue free operation. Both machines have been fitted with extra work lights, rotating beacons, front and rear screens and will be used to load and unload containers with materials and feature 3.5 and 5 tonne capacities with lift heights of 4.7 & 3.9 metres respectively.

The larger machine supplied by Hyundai will be used to handle full and half height shipping containers. The 160D-7A is a 16 tonne capacity truck built around a Tier IIIB Cummins engine. Delivering 123kw, the 6.7 litre engine meeting Cape’s drive for modern fuel efficient engines. 

The 160D-7A has been specified with Michelin XZM tyres in a bid to reduce damage from foreign objects. Punctures cause an unnecessary expense for Cape, and the associated downtime can impact on its delivery schedule. It will watch tyre life closely, if the XZM tyres perform as well as expected, it will look at making them a standard fitment on other machines within its fleet.

Another feature of the 106D-7A is the compact 4.7m turning circle. “At shut down times we can have the yard brimming with containers,” explains offshore logistics manager Andy Roddie. “The compact dimensions and superb manoeuvrability will benefit us over our previous machine immensely.” 

The 160D offers an impressive lift height of 4.5 metres enabling three half height containers to be stacked together. “Some of our half heights suffer from tight openings to get the forks into. ” explains yard foreman John Strother “We were very impressed that Hessle and Hyundai took this into account and have supplied us with a bespoke set of forks that include a longer taper yet still retaining the length and capacity we need to lift the units.”

Safety on all of Cape’s sites is of utmost importance and all three models are fitted with Hyundai’s Operator Presence Sensing System (OPSS) which isolates all mast movement and drivetrain operation without the operator being seated. 

Servicing of the Hyundai machines will be taken care of by Hessle’s national network of service engineers with the machines estimated to clock up 1000 hours per year.

Hessle are looking to build on the success of this deal and are looking to bolster the presence of Hyundai Heavy Industries material handling division in the UK.

Gino van der Auwera, area sales manager for HHI Europe is very confident about the Hyundai product; “We have been supplying forklifts into Europe for over 15 years and we are determined in becoming a significant major player within the next three-years. We feel that the European market for material handling equipment drives the market for the rest of the world in terms of innovation and design and we see Hyundai at the forefront of this.”