Melitta

Client: Daniel Belo

Business: Melitta

Perfect match forklift: Hyworth 1.4T Walkie Reach Stacker 5.5m Lift

Client background & environment

If you’re a coffee drinker, you may have enjoyed Melitta’s premium blend at your local cafe, in an affogato at your favourite restaurant, or from Melitta’s vending machines at the airport waiting gate.

While Melitta’s machines brew an exceptional coffee, we believe the Melitta warehouse is where the magic really happens.

The challenge

NSW Operations Manager, Daniel Belo was well aware that their Sydney team was rapidly outgrowing their current warehouse. While plans to relocate to a larger warehouse are certainly in the works, Daniel required a rapid solution for his overloaded space.

As a temporary arrangement, the Melitta team planned to reconfigure their current warehouse layout to allow for taller pallet racking. By adding a mezzanine level at the rear of their warehouse, they will be able to maximise their space by storing their inventory vertically. To support their new layout, Melitta required a forklift that would allow them to reach the top level of their new racking.

The biggest challenge would be finding a forklift that would not only be the perfect match for their current warehouse layout, but had the versatility to support their transition to a larger warehouse space in the near future.

Melitta’s requirements

While a site assessment focused on maximising their current space, we kept in mind their tentative plans to relocate to a larger warehouse.

The majority of Melitta’s operations would be spent indoors moving industrial coffee machine parts. The forklift would be required to navigate a slight slope at the front of their warehouse to unload and load inventory from the side of their truck.

Given their tight warehouse area and limited racking, it was critical that the new machine reaches Melitta’s top beam height of 5200m.

Our approach

As Melitta is an international company with factories all over the world, any changes to the Sydney warehouse layout needed to be first approved by their head office.

During this time, we provided an interim forklift which allowed Melitta’s Sydney warehouse to continue to operate smoothly and efficiently.

Once the plans were approved six months later, we were able to provide Melitta with their new Hyworth 1.4 T Walkie Reach Forklift with 5500mm lift height. Suitable for confined spaces and navigating narrow aisles, this model is a perfect match.

Additionally, the Walkie Reach Forklift is designed for handling pallets and moving heavy products, which means it will enable Daniel to increase his capacity in the future.

The result

Daniel was grateful that an interim forklift was able to keep their warehouse moving while the approval process took place.

His team now has the peace of mind that they can relocate their business at any time, as their new Walkie Reach offers a lift height and aisle width minimum that is flexible to maximise warehouse efficiency in a larger setting.

We look forward to watching Melitta continue to grow and tasting more of their premium blend in stores across Australia.