Bobby's Foods has found the answer to its handling problem with articulated forklift trucks, which are enabling the business to unload trailers outside and stack goods indoors in racking, all with one truck.

The snacks and confectionery business is headquartered in Bromsgrove and has 11 depots across the UK. Transport manager Julian Hill says the aim to have one truck in each depot proved difficult previously, as no single model could perform all tasks without wasting valuable space. He explains: "We had to cater for the unloading of vehicles as well as operating in the racked warehouses, so if the ground outside a depot was anything other than perfectly flat we had to use a three-wheel counterbalance truck which meant that we had to allow at least 3.5m for the internal warehouse aisles." Even where a reach truck could be used, aisle widths had to be 2.5m.

Bobby's Foods found the answer in Bendi three-wheeled, articulated trucks, which can operate safety and easily indoors in warehouses and factories, or outside on uneven surfaces.

The truck's design and 220° rotation means that aisles can be as narrow as 1.6m, while still achieving lift heights of 12m-plus. The trucks are manufactured in the UK, by Translift Bendi of Redditch.

Says Hill: "We were a little sceptical at first but once we had visited the factory and visitor centre in Redditch we were convinced Bendi was the right option for us. We now have trucks that are designed to go outside, unload vehicles, take the products inside and load them into pallet racking in one operation."

Service and support capability was also key, since Bobby's Foods is relying on one truck per depot.