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Thorworld Simplifies Loading For Interserve
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A Thorworld modular platform system was chosen by Interserve Retail & Interiors as the most convenient method of loading vehicles from a building with no loading bay.
Interserve is a joinery manufacturer and interior fit out specialist which produces and installs high quality bespoke work for the shop, office and leisure sectors. With an annual turnover of £22 million, it is a preferred contractor to John Lewis, Debenhams, Sports World International and Thomas Cook.
Amongst prestigious work recently completed was a £1.8 million contract for up-market London store Fortnum and Mason, which included the fitting out of a £600,000 wine bar. A contract to fit out the Law Courts in the former Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh will begin soon.
The Christchurch, Dorset company recently moved to new 40,000 sq ft offices and workshops as it needed extra space to cope with an increase in business.
Because the building has no loading bay, Interserve looked for a safe and cost-effective method of loading vehicles with finished products, such as bars, counters, reception desks and display cases.
It considered using forklifts, or a vehicle tail lift when available, but this was ruled out as being too complicated and time consuming. Building a permanent concrete ramp was thought to be too inflexible.
The solution came in the form of a Thorworld mobile platform system that delivers a high degree of simplicity and flexibility.
The system comprises of a specially made 3,000kg capacity mobile yard ramp measuring 7m long x 2.4m overall width x 2.25m usable width, with Durbar treadplate flooring.
At the top end of the ramp Thorworld fitted a work platform measuring 3.6m x 2.4m x 1.3m. It was tailor-made to the client's specifications with the addition of a second dock leveller so that two vehicles of differing heights can be loaded at the same time.
The drawbridge type dock levellers each measure 1.5m x 1.5m and have a 3,000kg capacity.
Pallet trucks or wheeled trolleys take shrink-wrapped joinery items up the ramp to the platform and into delivery lorries. Although the ramp is bolted to the ground, the bolts can be easily removed and it can be towed to a new location by fork lift if required.
Interserve intends to build a canopy over the new loading platform system so as to protect staff and product from bad weather.
The £2 million investment in the building also included the purchase of several new items of SCM production machinery; a Record 100 AL CNC router, a Sigma Plus beam saw, and an M3 multi-rip saw.
The environmentally friendly building, which features a biomass boiler for space heating, as well as the provision of solar hot water, was a finalist in the Sustainable Building Awards organised by the Dorset Chamber of Commerce and a local newspaper.
Thorworld mobile yard ramps are ruggedly built, with a steel superstructure and solid beam construction, and are ideal for the fast loading and unloading of vehicle trailers and containers by fork truck – particularly where there is no raised loading dock.
Available as Standard, Deluxe and Super Deluxe (light, medium and heavy duty) models, with 7,000 kg, 10,000 kg, 12,000 kg or 15,000 kg capacities, they can be purchased outright or hired through the company's specialist RentARamp operation with a sale or return option.
Hydraulically operated down to 890mm, the ramps have a serrated open grid deck for positive traction in all weather conditions and fully meet all European safety standards and directives.
Bespoke models can also be supplied to meet individual customer requirements and a comprehensive service and maintenance back-up facility is available to help ensure that the ramps are always kept in top condition.
Thorworld provides a one-stop, single source for a wide range of high quality loading & unloading equipment and loading bay accessories & safety aids, such as: dock shelters & seals, dock levellers, dock plates & boards, dock & vehicle bumpers, wheel chocks, modular loading docks and mobile yard ramps, as well as the Truckloada mobile yardlift and the Dockloada scissor lift platform.
