Leading loading/unloading equipment specialist Thorworld
Industries Ltd has highlighted its ability to devise tailor-made
solutions to meet individual customers' specific logistics needs
with a number of recent installations.
Thorworld's bespoke loading and unloading solutions incorporate
design, testing, manufacture, installation and full servicing and
maintenance. The company is committed to handling every step of the
process in-house, promising that work is not subcontracted to
outside agencies in order to maintain complete quality control
throughout the life of the project.
"With over 30 years' experience, we've come across all kinds of
unusual warehouse and loading/unloading environments and received
many challenging requests," explains John Meale, managing director
of Thorworld. "We are therefore confident that we can provide a
practical and cost-effective solution to virtually any
loading/unloading problem by utilising the long-term experience and
specialist expertise of our team."
The process begins by visiting the site and planning an
appropriate installation, tailored to the specific customer
requirements and space available. Typical real-life applications
have included a fixed loading ramp, incorporating an existing
concrete ramp onto which a yardramp needed to be adjoined, and a
warehouse where extremely limited space necessitated developing a
ramp that could be moved sideways for storage once the loading
operation was completed.
Thorworld's design team creates a blueprint using 3D CAD
visualisation, to show the customer what the finished installation
will look like and to confirm that the intended solution is
practical and cost-effective. Given the unique nature of each
bespoke product, this provides the designers with rewarding
technical challenges that, in turn, provoke new ideas for product
development.
The solution for the fixed loading ramp was a cut-down version
of Thorworld's 6 tonne capacity, Type 10 mobile yardramp, which
needed to be carefully redesigned to fit flush with an existing
concrete ramp, in order to provide a consistent gradient. A
counterbalanced drawbridge leveller then spans the gap to the
vehicle, and allows a wide range of vehicles to be served due to
its 350mm height variation. The leveller was also fitted with
collapsible handrails to provide a safe, efficient workspace and,
when not in use, the leveller is stored in an upright position.
Similarly, with the very tight space constraints, the concept
devised for the sideways ramp solution involved modifying
Thorworld's Deluxe 10,000Kg capacity Type 7 yardramp, by fitting an
additional set of wheels that were orientated perpendicular to the
normal direction of travel. This enables quick and easy sideways
movement of the ramp for storage when not in use.
The design stage is enhanced by extensive testing to ensure that
the desired equipment will be robust enough to withstand regular
warehouse usage. "Equipment gets very robust treatment during
loading and unloading, so we design and build hard-wearing
industrial kit that will provide long-term reliability," explains
John Meale. Methods include Finite Element Analysis and, where
possible, physical testing.
Once Thorworld and the customer are happy with the proposals,
manufacturing is conducted at the company's Chesterfield facility.
This is where Thorworld's build team confirms its ingenuity in
being able to meet the often leftfield concepts devised by the
designers so that customer needs can be fully met, if not
exceeded.
For the sideways yardramp, one particular challenge was to build
one set of wheels on telescopic legs. This allowed use of the ramp
in a traditional manner, but ensured that the ramp could then be
lowered onto the perpendicular set of wheels to push/pull sideways
for storage.
Installation is another crucial part of any bespoke project
because Thorworld must accommodate the customer's regular working
patterns into its schedule. For the fixed ramp application
involving the existing concrete ramp, the installation was
completed within a single day to minimise disruption to the
customer's logistics operations.
But, with Thorworld, it doesn't end there. Service and
maintenance contracts for Thorworld equipment provide a
comprehensive aftercare package that delivers long-term peace of
mind through regular maintenance and an extended warranty. "We're
confident in the success of our bespoke applications but, as with
any industrial equipment, it pays to properly and regularly
maintain it in order to avoid costly downtime," John Meale
explains.
Thorworld also offers full operator training as part of the
overall project management. John Meale concludes: "The nature of
bespoke solutions is that even experienced loading bay operators
will be unfamiliar with the new equipment. Our training programme
takes into account the specifics of the solution to ensure that
customers learn the safest and most efficient way to use it."
Details of these applications and some other recent Thorworld
bespoke loading/unloading solutions, such as hinged bridgeplates, a
platform system, mobile access platforms, a fixed loading ramp
& platform, a fixed ramp with leveller, a dock leveller, a
lightweight platform and dock bumpers, can be viewed at:
www.thorworld.co.uk/bespoke-products/list
Thorworld provides a one-stop, single source for the UK's widest
range of high quality loading bay and materials handling equipment,
safety aids and accessories.
Firmly established as one of the foremost designers,
manufacturers and suppliers to the loading bay and materials
handling sectors, the company is recognised as both a market leader
and innovator in the supply of quality engineered equipment.
BSI registered with ISO 9002 accreditation since 1992, Thorworld
was one of the first companies in the industry to achieve the ISO
9001 (2008) international quality management standard.
With additional SAFEcontractor accreditation, Thorworld has an
extensive customer list across a wide range of industries and
business types, including distribution, warehousing, logistics,
transport, retail, food, drink, manufacturing, waste management
& recycling and the service sector.
For more information about Thorworld's approach to bespoke
product development, together with details of their market-leading
loading/unloading equipment, and to obtain a copy of the latest
Product Range Catalogue, contact Thorworld Industries at Tel: 01246
260981 Email: info@thorworld.co.uk