Over the course of the last decade, Australian beverage manufacturer Remedy Drinks has steadily and successfully built its business, using the help of battery-electric Toyota Material Handling forklifts to distribute its products.
Since its genesis in 2012, Remedy Drinks has become synonymous with the tasty tea-based drink, kombucha, and has grown from a small operation in Melbourne’s south-east suburbs to now occupy a large dual warehouse and production facility in Dandenong South.
Remedy Drinks has long enjoyed a successful partnership with Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) that stretches all the way back to its first forklift, a second-hand Toyota unit.
Fast forward to today and Remedy’s fleet of TMHA equipment includes eight reach and four counterbalance Toyota forklifts, all underpinned by battery-electric powertrains which produce zero operating emissions.
Remedy Drinks warehouse manager Ryan Stark says that in his time with the business, his Toyota forklifts have allowed the business to keep up with a huge increase in demand for its products.
“The warehouse and logistics team’s primary role is to ensure our product is delivered to our customers, and knowing that our equipment on-site can do that is our number-one priority,” Ryan says.
“It’s great to know that putting our pallets into racking, putting them on trucks and picking orders, our equipment can do that and does it reliably.”
Along with strong reliability, Ryan says the Toyota forklifts are also user-friendly, with intuitive operation and a comprehensive suite of safety features
“From an operational perspective, they are an easy vehicle to operate,” he says.
“They have all the bells and whistles that I think are required on a forklift, particularly from a safety perspective.”
Of particular benefit to the Remedy Drinks logistics team is TMHA’s I_Site telematics and fleet management system, which can help fleets greatly improve efficiencies relating to equipment utilisation, downtime, breakdowns and incidents requiring OH&S attention.
Ryan says the addition of I_Site has allowed him to streamline processes in the Remedy Drinks warehouse.
“In particular the I-Site software for us is huge, that we’re able to have live data in terms of collisions,” he says.
“You’re doing away with manual checklists and books on the forklifts, that’s all done through the I-Site software – which is a huge thing.”
Proximity-linked speed limiting technology is also fitted to the forklift equipment, helping to maximise safety for not only the forklift operators but also surrounding pedestrians.
“Some of our production forklifts have speed limiters on them, so once they go from the warehouse to the production area, obviously there’s more pedestrian traffic in production and there’s a little more interaction between forklifts and pedestrians – that speed is limited once the forklifts go into the production area,” Ryan says.
“All that automation, keeping it all digital and software-based is a huge thing for us.”
Ryan’s team has been looked after by TMHA area sales manager Grant Owen, who has overseen the Remedy Drinks account from the time when they only had a single second-hand unit.
Over that time he has facilitated the company’s first new purchase – a pair of Toyota RRE140 reach forklifts – and been there for the company’s expansion into larger facilities and growth including contracts with major retailers including Coles and Woolworths.
Remedy Drinks has no plans to slow down its exponential growth, and Ryan knows that if the company requires an expanded fleet of equipment, TMHA’s wide range of products will be able to service their needs.
“Knowing that we’ve got a relationship with a supplier that has a large variety of equipment, we know we can stay with TMHA as our supplier,” he says.
“If we need to have new equipment on site, with the range that Toyota has we know we’re not going to be in a situation where if we need a specific piece of equipment it won’t be available. We can rest assured that TMHA will probably have it in some form.
“It allows us to stay in one brand which obviously helps with our servicing and our relationship that we can get the equipment that we really need to run the warehouse.”
Remedy Drinks was started by Sarah and Emmet Condon, whose home-brewed kombucha proved a healthy and popular alternative to sugary soft drinks, being 100 per cent natural and containing no sugar.
Since its beginning, Remedy Drinks has expanded its product line to include Sodaly natural soft drinks, Kick natural energy drinks, miniature energy shots, and apple cider vinegar based beverages.
For more information on TMHA, click here.
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