Australian online auction house GraysOnline has utilised Toyota Materials Handling to equip its main NSW warehouse.
The 30 000 square meter warehouse at Homebush handles around 85 per cent of the company's products, with approximately 35 000 individual stock movements a week.
Rick Jacobs, GraysOnline's Homebush warehouse manager explained that due to its high volumes in the warehouse, the company needed material handling equipment compatible to that used at Australia Post.
"It is vital that our warehouse equipment can operate with Australia Post's uniform loading devices," he said.
"The high-reach forklifts had to be specified with low multi-stage masts, so they could work under our mezzanine racking and also reach the top pick heights in the seven-metre high racking."
Due to the heavy level of stock movements, coupled with the need to carry these out at speed, the auction company has implemented 35 Toyota battery electric machines.
According to Toyota the site's equipment includes Toyota 1.8-tonne payload 8FBN18 counter-balance forklifts, Toyota three-tonne payload 7FB30 forklifts, BT RRE reach forklifts, and BT low-level order pickers and BT Levio pallet trucks, with the last ones commissioned in March earlier this year.
Jacobs said it turned to Toyota after considering three factors – its safety capability, service maintenance, and whether the company's product range met GraysOnline's warehouse needs.
He stated that the after sale service levels has been high.
"The number of forklifts on site means TMHA's Sydney service technicians are here once a month for regular maintenance," Jacobs said.