Combilift-Aisle Master – Articulated Narrow Aisle – Warehousing – Packaging
A global trend in forklift truck sales, already well known among warehouse professionals, is picking up even more pace with analysis showing continuing growth for the VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) forklift market.
A new report includes a forecast for high growth over the next five years and places Aisle Master among the key worldwide players to watch.
What has caused the shift to VNA trucks among global businesses? And what benefits are those who haven’t made the shift to VNA missing for their operation?
Combilift Managing Director Martin McVicar shares some expert insights every warehouse manager or owner will want to see…
VNA TRUCK POPULARITY: A SIMPLE REASON
Martin explained that a single, overriding factor has already been causing strong demand for its Aisle Master VNA forklift trucks in 85 countries.
“Put simply, a finite amount of property for warehousing is available for businesses and, even disregarding the issue of cost, the disruption involved in expanding or moving to a new warehouse when space becomes tight can hit a company’s bottom line.
“Instead, a VNA truck combined with expert warehouse planning means more space for goods thanks to narrower, taller aisles”.
“It’s a case of making a warehouse work harder for a business and, therefore makes a VNA truck or fleet a consideration many can’t afford to overlook.”
The benefits of a VNA truck also go beyond warehouse capacity. For example, Aisle Master VNA trucks also offer benefits including:
✔ Driver comfort and safety
✔ Easy operation
✔ Efficient 19.5kw AC motors for low running costs
✔ Indoor and outdoor operation
Each truck lifts to heights up to 15m, offers VNA operation in aisle-widths of just 1.6 m and has impressive load/lift capacity of up to 2.5t, increasing warehouse storage by 50% and lowering costs.
VNA TRUCKS: MAKING THE SWITCH
Combilift specialists have been offering an extensive free warehouse planning service to help those considering a switch to VNA trucks visualise the results their new vehicles will achieve.
Martin also explained how this service has continued despite the challenge of COVID-19 travel restrictions: ““Our free warehouse design service has been a great tool for resolving problems for customers and enabling them to maximise warehouse space.
“And now we have developed a virtual site survey in-house system. So instead of the traditional method where a Combilift product manager walks through the site, taking measurements and coming back with a proposal we can now have a direct conversation with the customer.
“As most owners and managers are not travelling at the moment we can get a quick turnaround of this service too. Using technology such as MS Teams and Google maps we have found that this can give us even more accurate data than before for warehouses and yard areas.”
In fact, a stock of raw materials at Comblilift HQ has meant very little disruption to the production, or demand for, Aisle Master VNA trucks.
VNA TRUCK POPULARITY SUMMARY: WAREHOUSE CAPACITY INCREASE NOW A GLOBAL TREND
Many businesses in Ireland, the UK and worldwide have been using a tried and tested method to drive savings in their warehouse operation by pairing:
1: A Free Facility Planning Service: The review includes racking layout proposals and storage density calculations to create the best possible performance from any warehouse.
2: The Aisle Master Very Narrow Aisles Articulated Forklift: An ability to work in aisles as narrow as 1.6m and 15m tall means a single multi-purpose truck and faster ‘truck to rack’ operations.
Combined, these two resources for a business have contributed not just to companies enjoying a warehouse capacity increase of up to 50% but also – as a key player in the global market – towards the worldwide popularity of VNA trucks.
To unlock the benefits of a switching to a VNA truck simply request a free planning service or find out more about the renowned Aisle Master articulated very narrow aisle forklift.
