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Flexibility is the Essence for Schweppes
Schweppes
20/08/2009
Selling one of Australia’s icon brands has given Schweppes a thirst for excellence. Now it’s tasting the success of a switch to a Toyota forklift fleet.
In 2008 Toyota Material Handling won a five year contract to meet Schweppes forklift requirements under an arrangement which will see nearly 200 Toyota forklifts at work in the company’s facilities.
“It’s more than a supply arrangement,” Schweppes Australia’s Logistics Execution Manager, Danny Murphy said. “We weren’t just looking for a company to sell us forklifts. Ultimately we went with Toyota Material Handling because we are confident they will work with us as a partner to help reduce our forklift fleet operating costs. We’re even working with them to trial the introduction of vacuum layer picker attachments at some sites.”
The roll-out of the Toyota forklifts under the contract is not scheduled to be completed until 2010, but already one aspect of the arrangement has ensured a future benefit for Schweppes.
“One of the characteristics which we looked for in a material handling equipment supplier was their ability to be flexible to suit our needs. That’s what we’ve got with this contract” said Danny.
“Even though many of the new forklifts are already in service and others won’t be required until next year, they will all have a common expiry date on their rental agreements. In 2013 when our next fleet replacement exercise is due, we’ll be able to start with a clean sheet.”
The exercise which resulted in the current agreement with Toyota Material Handling began with a request for expressions of interest from ten potential suppliers. After a national support capability evaluation cut the list to four, the short-listed companies were taken to every Schweppes site to gain a complete understanding of the company’s specific needs.
It wasn’t simply a case of replacing like with like. Schweppes wanted recommendations based on each supplier’s knowledge of their own equipment and how it would work with the specific needs of individual manufacturing and distribution sites.
A number of the Schweppes sites run six or seven days a week, but because the beverage business is seasonal the company also needed complete flexibility from a supplier with a rental fleet large enough to cope easily with changing requirements.
Toyota’s consistency as an organisation impressed the Schweppes selection team which included site operators, site management and head office management.
“Whether we spoke to Toyota Material Handling head office people or to their staff at branch level, the impression we got was the same,” Danny Murphy said. “They are an organisation which understands our needs and also has the resources such as rental fleet and service plus organisation size to support Schweppes whenever and wherever we need it.
“Before we entered into this agreement we examined all of those issues plus the technology on offer, safety, environmental concerns, equipment sourcing and lead times, fleet management systems and maintenance arrangements.”
Toyota Material Handling scored well in all those areas. The latest generation Toyota 8 Series forklifts it offered Schweppes are state-of-the-art equipment, fitted with the patented SAS System of Active Stability as well as digital weight scales, fork levelling, Operator Presence Sensing systems, speed limiters and low emission engines fitted with catalytic converters.
Tested against the 2.5 to 4.0 tonne forklifts previously in use by Schweppes the Toyota 8 Series forklifts with their latest generation engines have registered fuel savings of up to 30 per cent.
The fleet management system technology provided by Toyota Material Handling has also provided Schweppes with control and information which extends from swipe card and key pad operator access systems to online reporting available to site managers and head office executives.
