Masslift Africa is proud to announce the delivery of 33 highly specified diesel forklifts to Lafarge Gypsum South Africa which took place earlier
this year.
The Mitsubishi forklifts, ranging from three to seven ton capacities, were modified to special order to meet the stringent safety and efficiency requirements of Lafarge.
Marco Caverni, Sales Director of Masslift Africa, said Lafarge Gypsum South Africa had approached the company with three major issues which they needed addressed on their material handling requirements. These were:
- To meet the required safety compliance standards;
- To be more efficient and reduce running costs; and
- To find a solution that would address the amount of breakage that was occurring to the long boards that were being handled by the forklifts.
According to Marco, Masslift’s solution was to equip the forklifts with distinctive additions such as:
- Transmission protection to reduce transmission, abuse and tyre wear to save money;
- A top of the range Donaldson Filtration system which has an efficiency rate of 99.99% for cleaning the air going into the engine, thereby protecting the engine and prolonging the engine life while minimizing downtime;
- Netstar Fleet Management software to manage and proactively improve driving standards;
- Fork positioner attachments, supplied by Micron Engineering, which would solve Lafarge Gypsum’s stock breakage issues by leveling the load and minimising board sagging and breakage;
- PTX gas purifiers to clean and purify exhaust gas, protecting the environment and making the area the machine works in ‘cleaner’;
- Acrylic roofing to protect drivers in the rainy season;
- Fire extinguishers; and
- Chevron coloured counter weights to enable high visibility and helping to create a safer working environment.
The forklifts enable greater work efficiency by increasing the current carrying capacity – i.e., reducing loading time, and diminishing the need for the driver to continuously get on/off the forklift to manually adjust the forks. Furthermore, the hydraulic spreaders fitted to the forklifts accommodate the different length boards and as a result improve the former breakage problem.
“This is the first opportunity for Masslift Africa to work with Lafarge Gypsum South Africa, ”Marco said, “a prominent brand which we hold in high regard.”
“We believe the size and specialised specification of the order made this a notable contract for Masslift in that it underscores our position in the industry as a serious market player,” he commented. Masslift Africa has been in business for 20 years, and in March last year was bought out by new shareholders whose vision is to improve customer satisfaction, minimise down time on machines and provide excellent back-up service.
The company is the largest privately owned forklift company in South Africa and looks forward to furthering its business dealings with Lafarge South Africa and similar stature companies in the future.
Jean-Paul Croze, Managing Director of Lafarge Gypsum South Africa, says Lafarge wants to create a legacy for tomorrow and as such, all its initiatives are geared in that direction.
“Quality, safety and environmental awareness are paramount priorities for Lafarge. We scout the globe for trends in sustainable business development to lead product innovation that is compliant with world-class standards,” Croze says
Lafarge Gypsum is a leading supplier of interior finishing solutions that are founded on superior quality, consistency and innovative design methods. The company celebrated Safety Month in June with the appointed theme being Road Safety. A number of efforts were directed at employees on the floor, with the focus on mobile equipment and load management. In a collaborative effort between its Alrode and Roodekop Plants, Lafarge Gypsum South Africa scooped the worldwide group’s House Keeping Award for the first time.
Lafarge Gypsum’s Roodekop Plant had further cause for celebration in June after recording two years of no LTI’s (Lost Time Incidents).
