“Turkey has a thriving natural stone industry, but many companies had encountered damage when carrying, stacking and shipping palletised slabs of marble, which can be susceptible to chips, cracks or scratches if not handled with care,” says Botros Hanna, Industry Manager, Big Truck Solutions for Hyster. “As a highly valuable, luxury construction material, even a small amount of damage can render the load useless, incurring extra costs, and impacting operational efficiency.”

“Other marble attachments are designed for unloading containers only – this is the first time that an attachment is available for handling palletised stone loads,” says Hanna. “Coupled with the stable and precise handling of a Hyster® forklift, applications can benefit fr-om a wide variety of uses.”

As well as reducing damage, using a tough Hyster® lift truck benefits operational efficiency. Loading and unloading of shipments can be achieved at greater speed, as it is not necessary to depend on a crane, or to wait for one to become available. In addition, the marble can be stored in locations where a crane is not present, providing applications with more ways to maximise their existing infrastructure.

The versatile lift truck also supports a variety of handling activities. Stacking the marble slabs, transporting them within a storage area, and loading and unloading containers can all be achieved with a Hyster® lift truck and the specialist marble attachment.

“By working closely with customers, we can match the right Hyster® lift truck and most suitable attachments to the application’s specific demands,” Hanna continues. “This helps to reduce the total cost of ownership while maintaining optimum productivity, even in challenging industries such as marble handling.”