Movetech UK have worked closely with the management team at one of the world’s largest retail companies to design, manufacture and install a bespoke 17m diameter vehicle access turntable, sited at one of their large European stores in the Netherlands.
The project started with the retailer’s management team putting a plan together to extend their existing warehouse space, but with the store being surrounded by a protected nature reserve, the only available space to extend the store would be to construct into the current delivery yard area.
The proposed plan drastically reduced the space in the service yard; therefore, a turntable was the obvious solution to help manage the day-to-day deliveries to and from the store. By designing and installing a new bespoke 17m diameter vehicle access turntable, it would allow for the proposed construction of the additional footprint to be added to the warehouse, additionally allowing the delivery vehicles to continue to make their scheduled deliveries, both safely and efficiently.
“The retail stores primary objective was to extend their warehouse capacity” said Craig Wright, Movetech UK’s Technical Sales Director. “But knowing this would drastically reduce the amount of space the delivery vehicles would have to turn around in, it just wouldn’t have been a safe option to allow the vehicles to manoeuvre in such a small area, so a vehicle access turntable was undoubtedly the perfect solution.”
Craig then went on to say: “To make the delivery yard work efficiently and safely within the reduced delivery area, installing a turntable would certainly achieve this, and would allow the store to push forward with their plans to extend their warehouse capacity.
“The 17m diameter, 50-tonne capacity revolve, is the first, and largest, vehicle access turntable we have ever had the pleasure in designing, manufacturing and installing in mainland Europe, and from the consultancy phase, right up to the installation and handover, it has been an exceptionally enjoyable project, particularly when you’ve successfully helped turn someone’s problem into a solution.
“From start to finish, the whole process has taken 13 months, and we are more than happy with the end result. We are extremely honoured to have been given the opportunity to consult and offer a successful solution to the access problems the stores management team encountered.
“We will continue to support the company, by training the staff on how to use the turntable, in addition to servicing the turntable to make sure it continues to provide the high standards we expect from every one of the products we produce.”
Ian West, Movetech UK’s Technical Engineer added “I’ve been involved on this project from the very beginning, and the detail put into the design has allowed the installation of the turntable within the delivery yard to occupy as little land as possible, leaving more space for the store’s additional warehouse capacity, which was the stores main goal in this particular project.
“The added benefit of the stores delivery vehicles being able to drive straight into and out of the delivery area, without the need to make complete manoeuvres to turn the vehicles around, has also vastly improved the overall safety of the yard, as well as increasing efficiency by allowing deliveries to be completed in a much faster time scale.”
Ian then finished by saying “For this type of turntable, 44 tonne capacity is usually all that is needed in the UK and most of Europe, so being given the opportunity to be able to expand our expertise beyond this, as regulations in the Netherlands are slightly different, have been a great way of demonstrating whatever problem we are faced with, we will always produce a solution.”
Movetech UK vehicle access turntables provide effective access solutions, from improving car parking provision in city centre office blocks, to enabling delivery trucks access to sites that would not otherwise be accessible.
Additional benefits of a vehicle access turntable include meeting local planning requirements where a vehicle is required to enter and exit in a forward gear, assisting vehicles manoeuvring in a restricted area creating a safer working environment, freeing up storage space for more profitable use, as well as helping lower work environment pollution by reducing vehicle engine emissions, and improving logistics by reducing delivery turn round times.
