Bendi Order Picker goes into full production

MD Simon Brown explains: "What started out as nothing more than a regular chat about business with a large Bendi customer, has developed into one of the most exciting projects I have been involved with since the introduction of the award-winning Mini Bendi.

"During the visit, I came up with the idea of an articulated truck that combines a man-up order picker after discussing inefficiencies in the picking operation. The customer, a leading wholesaler of toiletries and household brands, use Bendi’s for order picking and replenishment of empty pallet positions picking and replenishment of empty pallets."

With the demand for next-day deliveries now becoming the norm, customers are moving a larger proportion of their available floor space over to picking rather than bulk storage. While most picking operations are carried out with great efficiency, there remains a sticking point when an order picker picking at ground level reaches an empty pallet location. The operative will put out a call for the reach truck to bring down a pallet from the second level, which interrupts the picking process and causes unnecessary delays or missed picks. It was here that the idea for an articulated order picking truck was born.

Simon continues: "The Bendi Order Picker can pick like any other stand-on order picker but it is the first truck that is designed to do "self replenishment”. It has two pallet handling locations, which allows the operator to pick and replenish a location without having to call another machine for assistance or multi handle the picking pallet to get the replenishment pallet. As no other replenishment trucks are required, the Bendi Order Picker can take advantage of its aisle performance which can result in a near 50% reduction in wasted aisle space and a more efficient ‘picking route’."