Coventry-based PSA Peugeot Citroen, manufacturer of the award winning Peugeot 206, is delighted with the cost savings and improved availability provided by its new fleet of Linde trucks supplied by Linde Creighton Ltd based in West Bromwich, one of the Linde local national network companies.
When PSA Peugeot Citroen decided to reassess its materials handling requirements, it spent over six months rigorously assessing suppliers. The aim was to find a reliable source to provide over 120 trucks for the Ryton manufacturing plant and more than 160 for the parts centre at Tile Hill, and a full service contract for both locations; together with a guarantee of 100 per cent uptime for all the trucks. With three shift patterns covering a seven-day working week at the Ryton plant, it was imperative that PSA Peugeot Citroen chose a supplier who could provide support that mirrored their shifts.
The Linde fleet currently includes E 16 P, E 25, E35, 1.6, 2.5 and 3.5 tonne electric counterbalance trucks and also R 16, 1.6 tonne, AC powered reach trucks. Other more specialised trucks employed are the unique E 10, 1.0 tonne compact electric counterbalance trucks as well as the L 14 AP AS, 1.4 tonne straddle stacker with folding operator platform.
Linde Creighton won the £4 million contract through not only supplying PSA Peugeot Citroen with an extensive fleet of trucks that are fully adaptable to future services and requirements, but also by guaranteeing a complete service for both locations and committing to ensure availability of all equipment 100 per cent of the time. By providing PSA with comprehensive performance monitoring systems, the use of on-site back-up trucks as well as eight on-site engineers at Ryton, one on-site service supervisor and 24-hour spare parts availability, Linde Creighton was able to win the total confidence of PSA Peugeot Citroen.
Over 75 per cent of the materials handling equipment on site at the Ryton manufacturing plant are electric counterbalance trucks and are used in a variety of applications including unloading/loading, line feed and medium level stacking/destacking. The receiving areas have a need to handle a wide range of stillages, including those containing bumpers and seats for the ever-popular Peugeot 206. The E 16 Ps that transport the loaded seat stillages to the assembly lines and return the empty containers to the receiving area are fitted with hydraulically operated extending forks with a resultant increase in throughput. The larger capacity truck which unloads seats and bumpers has fork positioners to handle differing load widths, and the majority of the fleet has triplex masts for stacking/destacking to 5.5 metres.
The parts centre at Tile Hill holds over 80,000 different items, servicing all UK and Ireland Peugeot and Citroen dealerships. The parts are housed in two warehouses and are serviced by a variety of Linde trucks including reach trucks and electric counterbalance trucks. Tile Hill is also awaiting a number of V 11, 1.1 tonne medium to high lift order pickers to complete the fleet.
All trucks on both sites are fitted with data loggers, which require the operator to log-on using a personal PIN number, which in future will identify an individual to a particular truck. In addition, the partnership generates equipment data for producing key performance indicator reports (KPI). This means that PSA Peugeot Citroen are able to monitor the performance of all trucks on every shift and is therefore able to reduce costs and improve performance.
Roger Pettit, material handling equipment pilot, from PSA Peugeot Citroen Ryton plant, said, “We have developed an excellent relationship with Keith Mosedale, key account manager at Linde Creighton. The new contract means that, as well as cost savings and improved availability, Linde provides an ergonomically better fleet for users, including fingertip hydraulic control, moulded seats, legroom adjustment and greatly improved manoeuvrability. Linde also has an innovative attitude to making improvements and enhancements to the fleet. On the technical side, the advances include dedicated on-site battery maintenance and a new generation of more efficient battery chargers. The operation is supported by comprehensive stocks of spares and overnight deliveries when needed. The partnership with Linde means that we have a vast range of experience and a comprehensive truck range to call upon.”