Hyundai | Hyundai Forklifts Aim for the Ceiling at Armstrong World Industries
Armstrong World Industries Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of floor and ceiling coverings. The American owned business has a production facility in Stafford where the company run a fleet of five Hyundai forklift trucks which are tasked with the handling of the high-end tiling material.
Armstrong boast a number of prestigious clients world-wide and have supplied tiling solutions to the London Underground, Canary Wharf and Jeddah Airport. As well as manufacturing facilities in the UK the company also has facilities in France, Australia, Germany, China and America.
Up until 18 months ago Armstrong’s Stafford facility were using a one-man operation for all of its lifting and moving requirements, but as the company expanded its UK operation, a more consistent and steady solution was needed to fulfil the demands of a growing business, and more trucks were required.
The contract was put out to tender and four companies quoted for the business. It was Stoke on Trent based Hyundai dealers Hystackers who were successful in securing the deal to supply five machines to the company.
Armstrong World Industries Production Manager Matthew Robinson said;
“The contract for the new fleet of machines was put out on a tender basis and we looked at the overall package which included not just cost but the service package etc. Hystackers ticked all the boxes and filled the criteria we were looking for.”
Armstrong has a range of Hyundai machines working at the Stafford facility which include the 33L-7A LPG counterbalance 3300kg load capacity forklift, the 20ET-7N – 2000kg load capacity electric pallet truck, a 20DA-7E – 2000kg load capacity forklift and a 33D-7E – 3300kg load capacity forklift. The machines are working 24hrs hours a day in shifts.
Matthew added, “We have a small facility here at Stafford of around 2.5 thousand metres with two large ‘sheds’ – we are situated in a cul-de-sac so access is quite restricted and pedestrians are always present so safety was one of the major factors in selecting
machines to work on the Armstrong site. We had blue warning lights installed and the speed is restricted too. There is also a safety check function on the machines screen which checks all safety aspects of the trucks. Visibility is also good and the operators report that they are very smooth to run. Other features on the trucks include GPS system and impact sensors.”
“Hystackers were extremely helpful with modifications we requested – the machines work inside as well as outside so we opted for LPG as opposed to diesel – the machines can lift 2.5 tonne with ease and have no problem reaching 3metres in height. Our 3.5 tonne ‘Milkman’ truck is moving materials all day which include coils and steels – the others are moving and distributing incoming goods and raw materials.
Hystackers back up service is also excellent – I would say it’s a 99% same day service. Also Carl Holdcroft offers us valuable advice on lifting constraints and is also very good from a training point of view.” Concluded Matthew.
