Senior Architectural Systems use a fleet of multi-directional Side Loader forklifts to handle 6000mm aluminium sections in 1900mm narrow aisles.
Established in 1991, Doncaster manufacturer Senior Architectural Systems (SAS) have grown to become the UK’s largest privately owned fenestration system company, measured by turnover. An early adopter of customer-centric business culture, SAS revolutionised the UK fenestration industry.
The long aluminium extrusions used within the manufacture of windows, curtain wall systems, and storefronts, combined with the need to maximise warehouse storage capacity, led SAS to invest in Side Loader forklift trucks. This specialist handling equipment can handle longs loads in the narrowest aisles.
The Forefront of Fenestration Technology
Senior Architectural Systems have been the leader in UK fenestration firsts, including the first company to introduce high insulation polyurethane foam thermal barrier and the first to bring powder coating in house.
SAS remain at the forefront of fenestration technology, with products often featuring on Channel 4’s Grand Designs and being years ahead of the curve when UK Building Regulations Part L changed in 2022.
This forward thinking philosophy underpins everything the company does, from customer support to warehouse management. As with all manufacturing operations, SAS must continuously strike a balance of the right stock levels and keeping up with demand, too much and the warehouse could grind to a halt or too little and orders will be late.
The Challenge
SAS needed to stock more aluminium for their products, whilst being able to feed their production lines quickly and efficiently.
Sidetracker allowed SAS to utilise the narrowest aisles possible. The unrivalled manoeuvrability of the trucks led to quicker retrieval times.
With the item width of our racking and the length of our bars, we needed a bespoke forklift truck. Side Loaders allow us to continue as we have from day one with narrow aisle trucks, maximising the floorspace, and ensuring everyone’s health and safety.
The Solution
Lex Harvey Ltd purchased their first trucks in 2001, this was eventually acquired by Briggs Equipment 2006 and on their recommendation, SAS contacted Sidetracker to find out more about specialist, narrow aisle handling equipment.
Sidetracker engineers completed an extensive site survey to assess SAS requirements to configure the ideal truck for their needs.
The objective was to develop a truck that could achieve fast retrieval of stock in the narrowest possible aisles, allowing SAS to fully utlise every cubic metre of available warehouse capacity. SAS purchased an early version of the SuperTracker 320C with a range of bespoke features, many of which became standard model features:
- 3 wheel multidirectional
- Wide deck placement
- Motor-powered forks
- Wide fork carriage
- 8.35 metre lift height
- Heavy-duty triplex mast stability.
The Results
Side Loader forklifts have proved so successful for Senior Architectural Systems, that they are now using a fourth generation of trucks.
Forklift trucks are in operation up to 16 hours a day handling and manoeuvring 6000mm long and 1050mm wide stillages. A standard counter balance truck would require aisle widths over 7 metres to handle goods of the size however, working with Sidetracker means SAS can operate in very narrow aisle widths of 1900mm.
At the beginning of the SAS Sidetracker relationship Side Loaders delivered a 250 millimetre saving per aisle compared to other multi-directional trucks available at the time. Over the intervening years, SAS forklift operators have provided regular feedback to Sidetracker, good and bad, meaning the SuperTracker specification has been refined and is more refined to the SAS way of working.
Sidetracker are able to build a bespoke product which has been tailored and tweaked during the course of our relationship, taking good and bad operator feedback and adjusting the machinery accordingly.