Glass specialist takes 50 truck fleet

Laddaw is the UK distribution centre based in Bardon, Leicestershire and is the largest European distribution centre in the Belron Group. Alongside this extensive B2B business is the Autoglass brand, the well-known vehicle glass repair and replacement company. The business has recently taken delivery of a brand new fleet of STILL machines.

John Cooper, Belron UK head of supply chain says: “Our partnership with STILL is built on integrity and trust. We could see immediately the ‘can-do’ attitude of STILL’s team and their desire to work with us, their willingness and professionalism is why we chose them as a partner.”

The operation at Autoglass is one which requires care and precision so the materials handling requirements were of paramount importance.

Kevin Warn, Belron UK distribution centre manager explains: “The stability of STILL’s OPX product is quite remarkable, our operation requires these trucks to travel at high speeds around corners (carrying fragile glass products) our previous trucks couldn’t handle the required speeds but STILL’s machines are working at optimum which has improved the overall site productivity.” 

The OPX series is STILL’s new, all-round, horizontal order picking machine which is designed for maximum performance. This series provides a great variety of different machines and functions which are suited to this type of application.

Justin Gibbons, Belron UK technical training manager explained the importance of recycling for the company: “We recycle on average 10,000 tonnes worth of glass and the STILL counterbalance trucks which primarily operate outside have massively improved this operation. With the new clamps, we are now able to rotate the glass at about 4.5 metres and a full rotation only takes 18 seconds, this has more than halved the time of our previous machines.” 

Belron was also impressed with STILL’s safety features and the innovative FleetManager.

The site now has twelve STILL FM-X reach trucks which boast a 10.3 metre lift height and are used in both wide aisle and drive in racking storage areas. This reach truck offers Active Lateral Stability (ALS) which reduces oscillations at a maximum lift height meaning a reduction in waiting time by up to 80%.