Innovation and expansion

Having started out by designing and refining the Moffett Mounty range of truck mounted forklifts and then turning their attention to developing the Combilift – the world’s first IC engine powered, all wheel drive multi-directional forklift – it should come as no surprise that engineers Robert Moffett and Martin McVicar have considerably expanded Combilift’s portfolio over the last fifteen years.

What is exceptional in the specialist trucks sector however is the breadth of these new developments and the directions they have taken, as Combilift now offers machines as diverse as a 1,450kg capacity pedestrian reach stacker through to straddle carriers which can lift and transport containers and extremely oversized loads weighing in at 80t.

Given the almost overnight success of Combilift’s C series of multidirectional trucks the company could probably have rested on its laurels and just continued to expand this core range. However, as MD Martin McVicar explains, it soon became clear that this was going to be unlikely.

“As our reputation for being able to offer a high level of customisation spread, existing customers came to us with requests for solutions to specific handling issues, so you could say that what was their problem became our opportunity, and this to a great extent has set the pattern for our product development ever since.”

An early example of feedback driving new products was Combilift’s 4-way sideloader, prompted by the wish from customers using conventional sideloaders for a machine capable of working in existing aisle widths but which offered much better manoeuvrability, better space utilisation and also the ability to block stack. The Combilift SL range was duly developed and has become a staple in the timber and heavy metals sectors.

Having such a wide geographical customer base – the company dominates the global long load handling sector by a long shot – has also speeded up the pace of development. “If one customer comes to us with a specific request, the cost of product development may not be viable, but our ability to gauge feedback from over 75 countries gives us a very good overview of general trends in demand and we can react accordingly,” says Martin.

Basing the design of products around standard components which are readily available worldwide also helps to keep development costs down and to ensure that any new product can be maintained and serviced wherever it is located. The Straddle Carrier range for example may not have a lot in common with the core C series when it comes to appearance, but many of its features such as the hydrostatic drive and the hydraulic steering have been designed around common components. And in fact the advent of the SC was closely linked to the introduction of the largest C model, the 25t C25000.

Martin: “We were getting enquiries for ever larger C models for handling 30t and over and realised that there must be an easier way to move these incredibly heavy loads, particularly as a machine’s unladen weight and axle loading starts to become an issue with the capacities involved. Our answer was the SC, a frame type structure which can cradle the load, with greatly reduced ground pressure for operation on uneven surfaces without the need for costly ground reinforcement.”  

At the opposite end of the size scale, the Combi-WR “Walkie Reach” truck was largely a result of the requirement from customers using the company’s Aisle-Master articulated range for a pedestrian operated machine along similar lines. Combilift’s engineers worked on this to design a new, much smaller, compact and more cost effective solution than simply adapting the Aisle-Master. Focus on easy and safe operation also led to the multidirectional Combi-WR4 winning the Ergonomics category at this year’s FLTA awards.

Possibly one of Combilift’s most groundbreaking developments was the Combi-CB which was the first truck of its kind to combine 4-way travel with the compact design of a counterbalance truck. Whereas the original C series was designed mainly for long and bulky products Combilift wanted to offer operations handling a mix of long and palletised goods a one machine solution. Now one of the company’s best sellers, it also won the FLTA’s one off “winner of winners” award in 2012.

“From the start we wanted to be known not just as suppliers of a specific type of forklift but as providers of innovative products and complete warehouse solutions,” says Martin. “I know that there is a tendency to think that the words ‘solution’ and ‘innovation’ are overused but in our case they embody our ethos, have helped us to achieve impressive sales figures and win numerous awards so I am happy to continue to use them!”