Awards success for Crown Lift Trucks
Crown has added to its long list of awards after being named Materials Handling Equipment Provider of the Year in the prestigious TCS&D Awards.
The company was recognised for its work in collaboration with third party logistics operator, Great Bear.
Mark Eccleston, UK Sales Director at Crown Lift Trucks, received the award in front of hundreds of industry guests at a ceremony held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough.
Judges were impressed by the support Crown provided Great Bear in implementing a fleet changeover at the latter’s ambient Desborough DC.
Following the successful implementation of Crown material handling equipment at a sister site in Port Salford, Great Bear took the decision to switch from its incumbent supplier at Desborough and a smaller site at Kettering, to Crown Lift Trucks.
It was important from Great Bear’s perspective that the changeover be implemented with minimal disruption to its business.
Great Bear chose a fleet of 58 Crown trucks, of which 12 were wire-guided TSP Series VNA trucks. These were supported by a range of GPC Series order pickers, FC Series forklift trucks, WT Series platform pallet trucks and ESR Series reach trucks.
The wire-guided TSP Series VNA truck is at the heart of the Desborough operation. Featuring Crown’s exclusive MonoLift™ mast with its strengthened boxed-in sections and heavy-gauge steel, the TSP Series provides the stability needed for operators with less twisting and swaying than with traditional, dual upright masts, thus delivering optimal performance and long-term reliability.
Additionally, Crown’s Auto Positioning System is fitted to the TSP Series trucks used at the Desborough facility. This helps optimise performance by choosing the most efficient route for the truck to travel between pallet locations. Pick accuracy has improved, and the time savings have led to a more efficient operation.
An additional reason for choosing Crown was the flexibility offered by its InfoLink fleet management system, which has proved instrumental in improving the DC’s operational efficiency.
Eddie Hollingsworth, Account Director, Great Bear Distribution, said: “We scheduled the implementation of the new fleet over three weeks during one of our quieter periods. Because of its complexity, we initially went live with the smaller pieces of equipment – the counterbalanced forklift trucks, reach trucks, powered pallet trucks and low-level order pickers.”
“We then phased in the VNA machines over the following two weeks. The battery change area needed dismantling and reassembling to a specific configuration and Crown project managed all of that.”
“Crown delivered on its promises and we experienced zero business disruptions, with 58 trucks being smoothly installed into our operations.”
Mark Eccleston said: “At Crown we take seriously our commitment to delivering the best possible service to our customers, so it is gratifying to be recognised with this award.”
“I would like to thank Great Bear for their support, and we are delighted that the fleet changeover has proved such a success.”
“Finally, I offer my thanks to everyone at Crown who worked so hard to fulfill the customer brief and for implementing the changeover with zero disruption.”
Now in their 7th year, the Temperature Controlled Storage & Distribution (TCS&D) Awards are the UK’s only dedicated awards for the temperature-controlled storage and distribution sector.
About Crown Equipment Corporation – EMEA
Crown is one of the world’s largest material handling companies with a reputation for award-winning product design, advanced engineering and technology supported by superior after-sales service. Crown’s business philosophy utilises vertically integrated processes to design, manufacture and distribute forward-thinking innovative solutions that improve customers’ productivity and operating efficiency. Crown develops, produces and sells a broad range of forklifts, as well as automation and fleet management technologies.
The company’s global headquarters is located in New Bremen, Ohio, USA, with regional headquarters in Germany, Australia, China and Singapore. Its employees number more than 15,000 worldwide. Crown operates a service and distribution network that exceeds 500 retail locations in over 80 countries. To learn more about Crown’s ideas for helping customers advance the productivity of their operations, visit crown.com.