MHD MATERIALS HANDLING
CONTAINER DEVANNING MADE EASY
Australian company Tilling Timber has for years been in search of a better method for devanning containers of its quality wood products. Recently, by installing its a Combilift Combi-CSS Container Slip-sheet system at its Melbourne site, Tilling found what it’s been looking for.
T
illing Timber has traded for 58 years as a timber importer and distributor and has a truly national reach in delivering quality wood products wholesale to the Australian market, says Leon Quinn, National Sales & Marketing Manager for Tilling Timber. “Tilling distributes the SmartFrame range of engineered wood products from five distribution centres – Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth,” says Leon. “We also manufacture and distribute the Architectural range
of claddings and linings, as well as FrameSmart Baltic pine framing, along with glue laminated and sheet products.” Needless to say, quality wood products are always in demand, and customers engage Tilling because it is a renowned and trusted nation-wide wholesaler. But with supply chain disruptions coming thick and fast, it’s more important than ever that reliable and efficient materials handling equipment is in place so Tilling can quickly move products. “We have used Combilift forklift trucks
The Combi-CSS Container Slip-sheet is specifically designed for fast loading of freight containers with a maximum capacity of 30,000 kg.
for many years,” Leon says. “We have 58 Combilift forklifts in our national fleet. We prefer Combilift because they have a proven track record of superior reliability, durability, ease of service, and – of course – they’re great people to work with. Chris Littlewood, Country Manager Australia at Combilift, notes that the company’s relationship with Tilling is almost as old as Combilift itself. “While Combilift was established in 1998, we started doing business with Tilling in 2002 – the very same year we started doing business in Australia,” Chris says. “Tilling was among our first customers in Australia, and we have been working with them since the first Combilift units were brought into the country.” Chris points out one principle that underpins Combilift’s success is the notion of “mass customisation”. “We manufactured almost 8000 units in 2021, and of those 90 per cent were customised,” he says. “The experience with Tilling is no different. We started out roughly 20 years ago supplying the C4000, our multi-directional four tonne unit, and since then we have customised the ‘Tilling spec’ in everything from lift capacity to colour to cabin size to speed – all to meet their unique requirements.”
THE CHALLENGE: DEVANNING CONTAINERS One challenge on which Combilift and Tilling have been working for several years is the safe, efficient handling of containerised loads at Tilling’s five Australian sites, says Chris. “The costs and productivity inefficiencies of either having containers 44 | MHD APRIL 2022
