WORLDWIDE – No matter which way you cut it the articulated forklift design has a somewhat unnatural look about it, even when sitting straight its profile (as in our photograph) looks somewhat insectivorous. But the concept of the Flexi truck, developed and launched in the early 1990’s, has proved a winner with logistics companies and freight warehouses internationally with over 5000 units sold globally so far.

The unique feature of simply ‘bending in the middle’ means the trucks are able to operate in the narrowest of racking aisles in comparative comfort whilst maintaining all the normal abilities of a standard counterbalanced truck and allowing a huge warehouse footprint reduction, saving warehouse keepers up to 50% of the space otherwise required.

Flexi Narrow Aisle, the UK-based manufacturer of the Flexi range of articulated forklift truck systems, expects global sales of Flexi trucks to more than double over the next five years and this would appear to be a not unreasonable claim given the minimal time most drivers take to adapt to the particular dynamics of articulation. The West Midlands based company believes the United States market offers particular strong growth prospects, while recently signed distributor agreements in Australia, Korea, China and Pakistan are anticipated to leverage increased demand for the Flexi range in those territories.

Ironically it is innovative ideas such as the 'bendy truck' which often thrive in harsh economic times, the savings in floor space outweighing the cost of fleet replacement, and in order to keep pace with overseas sales Flexi has had to develop a global distribution network which now provides comprehensive after-sales service and maintenance back-up in over fifty countries worldwide, prompting John Maguire, sales and marketing director of Flexi Narrow Aisle, to comment:

“We are an internationally focused company that provides innovative truck based storage systems. We are a manufacturing company with great products and a respected brand and this is reflected in the growing number of overseas buyers who are investing in Flexi articulated truck technology.”