Flexi Slender Aisle Ltd – designer and producer of the long-lasting Flexi model of articulated forklift vehicles – will rejoice its 50th anniversary in 2026.
Asserting the milestone, Donald Houston, Managing Director of Flexi Slender Aisle, stated: “Reaching this vital landmark is a supply of nice delight for everybody linked with the corporate. For half a century, Flexi Slender Aisle has been pushed by a dedication to design and manufacture ground-breaking warehouse vehicles. Throughout this time our construct high quality and distinctive ranges of customer support have enabled us to fulfill the myriad challenges that include a continuously evolving enterprise panorama.”
Flexi Slender Aisle started manufacturing its personal vary of warehouse stackers, order selecting vehicles and different distinctive specialist supplies dealing with tools from a former railway engine manufacturing facility positioned on the coronary heart of the Black Nation in March 1976.
Following over a decade of pioneering analysis into the articulated truck idea by Flexi Slender Aisle’s design workforce led by the corporate’s founder, Peter Wooldridge, the primary model of the Flexi articulated forklift truck was launched in 1990.
That includes a central pivot level that allowed the truck’s mast to be rotated independently of the machine’s predominant physique, the Flexi represented a radical departure from conventional forklift engineering.
The pivoting mast meant {that a} Flexi may entry pallet places on each side of a warehouse aisle with out the necessity to flip the complete truck to face a special route. This not solely made the method of gathering and placing away palletised masses right into a racked storage system simpler, quicker and safer however introduced the additional benefit of solely requiring 1.6 metre vast aisleways during which to function.
With each counterbalance and attain vehicles needing at the least 3.6 metres of aisle area between rack faces, the potential area financial savings that articulated truck expertise provided meant customers may enhance their storage capability by 50% by swapping their counterbalance or attain vehicles for Flexis.
Moreover, along with creating extra cupboard space, the brand new Flexi truck’s skill to function exterior in addition to contained in the warehouse meant that it may unload an incoming supply car and switch palletised masses on to the racking scheme. So, with a Flexi, there was no want for firms to function a counterbalanced forklift exterior feeding a attain truck inside the shop. Slicing out this double dealing with was not solely extra environment friendly however, by changing two vehicles with one Flexi, customers achieved an prompt saving of their supplies dealing with fleet prices.
Since Flexi Slender Aisle’s pioneering growth of the articulated truck greater than 15,000 Flexis have been bought to firms working in some 75 nations world wide. The Flexi vary continues to evolve with new fashions launched to fulfill the necessities of consumers working in vastly numerous industries.
Donald Houston went on to say: “Our confirmed observe document, longevity and stability have established Flexi Slender Aisle as an organization that its clients belief.
“We’re rightly happy with our previous and the dedication to integrity that has at all times been Flexi Slender Aisle’s hallmark, continues to drive every little thing that we do. And I’m delighted to say that our ardour for innovation and manufacturing excellence stays as sturdy as ever too, so we want to the longer term and our subsequent 50 years with pleasure and optimism.”
