Smarter material handling Atlet

SMARTER MATERIAL HANDLING

Atlet AB is a global leader in the design and manufacture of hightech warehouse trucks. Philip Yorke looks at what it is that keeps the company ahead of the competition and at its latest, innovative, ground-breaking products.

Atlet AB is based on Gothenburg, Sweden and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of warehouse trucks. The company was founded in 1958 when Knut Jacobsson decided to design and create a new truck from his home that offered better ergonomics and handling characteristics. From his two-room apartment, the company has grown to become a world-class and internationally respected materials handling expert that continues to set new standards for the industry. The company’s early focus on ergonomics and innovation has not diminished with time, and today it employs around 1500 people and is represented in more than 45 countries worldwide.

During the early years pedestrian stackers and reach trucks dominated the warehouse truck market and it was at that time that Knut Jacobsson invented a stand-stacker that was unique, because it could be used in very narrow aisles with ease, thanks to its patented side stabilisers. The company’s culture of creativity and innovation lives on with the most recent technological and ergonomic advances to be found in two new ground-breaking models: the Presto PLP CD and the Tergo personal reach truck. Improving customer efficiency and profitability

The single most important objective at Atlet trucks is to improve its customers’ profitability. Many of the company’s trucks are tailor-made in order to meet the unique challenges that await them in the material handling operations of companies, warehouses and manufacturing industries worldwide. Atlet designs, develops and produces trucks at Molnlycke, Sweden, adjacent to its head office where around 5000 trucks are manufactured every year. Here every fifth truck is produced to meet specific customer specifications, which creates a need for flexibility in design and assembly. The ultra-efficient robotics and assembly processes mean that the lead time from the date of order to delivery is usually 3 to 15 weeks depending upon the complexity of the specifications.

All Atlet trucks are based on seven basic chassis with less than 3500 components involved and these are exhaustively tested for optimal reliability. The unique, Atlet modular system is the backbone of the company’s efficient product development and every Atlet truck’s trouble-free life cycle. The company’s customer-orientated process is designed to improve material handling and deliver increased profits for the end user. Working in close partnership with its customers, Atlet is able to develop trucks that satisfy every customer’s most challenging demands.

However, at Atlet everything begins with a full understanding of the customer’s materials handling operations and their specific needs. From the outset, the company continuously gathers input from its customers, often on the basis of pilot studies and after several intense questioning sessions. This is in order to determine the smartest way to produce each tailor-made truck. Before the final concept is defined, Atlet builds a full-scale prototype which is then rigorously tested at its facilities in Molnlycke, Sweden. Once the truck has been delivered to the customer, the Atlet aftersales organisation takes over and supports the customer throughout the truck’s entire life cycle. This means providing service, parts and updates in order to ensure cost-effective, efficient and secure internal material handling – from beginning to end.

Innovation and reliability driving sales

In keeping with its innovative traditions, Atlet has developed a warehouse truck, at a

stroke, that combines its high, doublestacker efficiency with long-distance capacity. The company’s ‘doubly efficient long-distance runner’, the Presto PLP CD, offers superior handling and ergonomic characteristics along with greater flexibility and efficiency. Jan Callderyd, Atlet’s senior product manager, said, “The all-new Presto PLP CD fits perfectly into the loading/unloading and cross-docking market segment, which means that we can offer our customers the best of two worlds in one truck. Ergonomics, safety and efficiency are our top priorities – and that is precisely what our customers expect from an Atlet truck like the new Presto PLP CD.”

Another recent addition to Atlet’s product portfolio is the long-awaited Tergo, which is heralded as ‘The world’s most personal reach truck’. This new generation warehouse truck is designed to minimise operator fatigue and to be the most ergonomically perfected truck on the market today. The new Tergo has been designed around the operator, by the operator. To enhance customer productivity, the new model offers a wide range of personal adjustments and innovations, thus providing a strain-free, variable and harmonious working environment for the operator.

Atlet’s product development manager, Dan Ulmestrand, said: “Our aim was to design the world’s most personal truck. By involving users from the very beginning of the project

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and then continuously soliciting their input, the operators had a profound impact on the final result.” Ergonomics have been the hallmark of Atlet trucks since the early 1990s. Recently Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg carried out an extensive comparative ergonomic evaluation study. The study compared the new Atlet Tergo with three other comparable makes and showed that the Tergo offered more ergonomic working postures than any of the other reach trucks. So we are very pleased that our hard work continues to pay off. Today our goal is to take a stronger position within the market for warehouse trucks, and this new launch of the Tergo reach truck helps us to secure our position as one of the world’s leading suppliers of high performance quality trucks.”

In Europe, reach trucks form the main force in most internal material handling operations, with a significant proportion being used within the food distribution sector. Bengt Kristiansson, vice-president of sales and marketing at Atlet, said, “In Europe we meet the demands from intensive food distribution to stack higher, heavier and faster, as well as meeting the requirements from new, fast-growing businesses in eastern Europe who require a more basic truck, but still with a focus on the operator and productivity.” n