Jungheinrich UK has announced a substantial, five-year rental fleet management deal with logistics and warehousing specialist Kammac, together with a fleet of new very narrow aisle trucks.
- 60-month agreement signed between Kammac and Jungheinrich UK to provide a flexible forklift solution
- The deal enables Kammac to respond dynamically to customer requirements and demonstrates Jungheinrich’s ability to solve customer storage and handling issues at short notice
- Additionally, Jungheinrich is supplying a new very narrow aisle fleet with a 14280mm lift height
- The fleet is semi-automation ready, with RFID technology for aisle and position recognition, and is ready to use Jungheinrich’s new Fleet Management System
Jungheinrich UK, the industry-leading manufacturer of German engineered intralogistics systems, has announced a five-year rental fleet management deal with logistics and warehousing specialist Kammac specifically to help them handle their growing ecommerce operations.
The deal will see Jungheinrich supply electric counterbalance and power pallet forklifts across the organisation’s 14 UK sites in a way that helps Kammac, featured in The Sunday Times’ Hundred 2022 of fastest growing companies, address one of the most challenging aspects of the supply chain sector.
“Contracts can change quite regularly in logistics,” explained Kevin Barber, Head of Corporate Business Solutions at Jungheinrich, “and no company wants to overcommit to equipment it needs now but may not need in the future. The new contract gives Kammac a more flexible, dynamic solution where they can on-hire and off-hire trucks throughout the contract without having to give us long notice periods or pay financial penalties. It’s an arrangement that enables both Jungheinrich and Kammac to be agile and responsive to our customers’ needs.”
Halving lead times
Agility isn’t the only benefit for Kammac. “No other intralogistics firm offers precisely this form of arrangement, one that lowers costs and helps de-risk companies with ambitious growth strategies,” Kevin said. “Just as important for our customers, however, are our lead times. We are able to deliver at least twice as fast as our competitors. Currently our new truck lead times are as low as 13 weeks for VNA trucks. That compares with quotes of over 12 months elsewhere in the industry.”
Enabling greater warehouse capacity
The shortest lead times in the industry were a major driver behind Kammac’s decision to replace aging carriers at its Trafford Park site with a new fleet of Jungheinrich’s VNA (very narrow aisle) equipment. Investment to date for this site includes 9 EKX 5 Series VNA and 12 lithium ion-powered pallet trucks, with RFID technology for aisle and position recognition.
“These are semi-automated trucks,” said Kevin. “Once connected to the warehouse management system, it will tell the truck where to go. Once accepted by the user, the truck will drive itself to the point in the racking where the pallet is to be picked. It also automatically takes the pallet out of the racking in a safe manner and onto its next destination. The system standardizes processes, increase throughputs and driver input is minimal.”
Kevin sees VNA as essential for any organisation wanting to grow its operation. “In the UK warehouse space is at a premium,” he explained. “The best way to optimise that space is to make aisles as narrow and as tall as you can. The trucks in this particular VNA solution achieve a 14280mm lift height.
“We are delighted that, through the combination of fleet management and VNA supply, Jungheinrich UK is helping to give Kammac the capacity, efficiency and flexibility it needs to drive additional growth.”
Ged Carabini, Chief Operating Officer at Kammac, said: “We have grown massively over the last 5 years on the back of great customer service, and we’ve continued to win lots of new contracts over the last few months, especially in ecommerce fulfilment. This has given us the confidence to invest in the best innovative new kit to give our current and future customers the service they expect.
“If we’re doing that we believe we might as well invest in the best. In my opinion, that’s Jungheinrich. They offered us the right packages in terms of kit, fleet and availability. Along with their commitment to service, it will help us to take our offering to the next level.”
“It is good to find a partner with the same commitment to innovation as us.”
