STILL in Use at Radlberger

Challenge: Beverage producer Radlberger has been leasing its forklift fleet from STILL for over 10 years. When the company recently decided to renew their fleet, 4 other manufacturers were invited to tender offers.

Solution: An ongoing, continual process of improvement along with STILL's personalized service led to a renewed full service leasing contract.

Products: RX 60 Electric Forklift, Leasing,
Full Service

Austrian beverage producer Radlberger has been leasing its fleet of forklifts from STILL for more than ten years. The agreement was renewed for a second time in 2012. This was the result of continual ongoing improvement to the vehicles along with personalized service.

Gundolf Edelbacher is an analytically thinking person. The logistics manager at Radlberger is constantly rethinking processes and vendor relationships - this is, of course, true for the acquisition of in-house transport vehicles as well.

"Radlberger has been working with STILL for ten years. Roughly 20 vehicles, their batteries and the required charging equipment are provided as part of a leasing agreement. In 2012, the third full-service leasing contract, each for a duration of 60 months, was signed", reports Michael Schulz, STILL's System Technologies and Fleet Management department manager. 

In 2007, the LPGas engine truck fleet was replaced by an electric truck fleet. One decisive factor at the time was the RX 60-50's lateral battery change concept, which greatly eases and improves operations in production and filling areas. "A traditional electric truck, where the battery can only be accessed from above, was not an option for us", says Gerhard Fitz, longstanding warehouse manager at Radlberger. No wonder, to change a battery using a crane requires not only the expensive crane itself, but trained employees and much, much more time as well.

However, as the existing leasing agreement expired in 2012, the other forklift manufacturers had been working to close the gap. STILL does have the most experience in this area, but lateral battery changing - also on 2.5 - 5 ton capacity trucks - is no longer unique to STILL.

"I carefully researched the market options and made inquiries with five different producers," remembers Gundolf Edelbacher who has been working at Radlberger since 2010. The bidding process was initiated for a total of 18 floor conveyors - 13 drawbar and 5 frontal lifts. 

It was clear from the beginning that the new fleet was also to be leased. "Our trucks move upwards of 1,800 pallets every day and are in use for up to 3,000 hours each year. After about five years, you do start to notice a fall in battery performance", explains Edelbacher. Thanks to the leasing agreement, Radlberger was able to save the expense of replacing the forklifts' batteries - after 60 months the entire fleet is replaced anyway.

What's more, there's the fact that forklift related expenses are precisely calculable. The beverage producer had already decided in 2002 that full-service leasing was their best option. This means that all expenses for maintenance, repairs and inspections are covered by a fixed monthly payment. This includes not only the actual forklift technology but tyres, accessories, charging stations as well as the batteries. Additional costs are only incurred in cases of damages caused by the customers themselves. Regardless: When you have 18 machines being heavily used, there is always something to be done. Accordingly, the responsible STILL service technician visits Radlberger regularly. "We see him several times a month. At this point it's almost as if he were a trusted part of our own staff", says Mr Fitz. Its very important to him that he is able to rely completely on the technician and that there is a single, fixed representative.

The final, critical point for the decision to go with STILL again was the improved power and performance over previous models. The STILL RX 60-50 has also been available with a "600 mm load centre" since 2011. This means that the basic load capacity of 5,000 kg is achieved at a load centre of 600 mm, whereas the "normal" RX 60-50 has a basic load capacity of 5,000 kg with a load centre of 500 mm. The resulting greater residual load capacity, along with the integral Kaup fork positioner, have a very positive effect on the entire system when, for instance, lifting 3 drink pallets using a fork length of 2,400 mm.

"Our high standards of quality demand that we provide our customers with a safe, reliable and, in all respects, high performance vehicle for the entire duration of their leasing agreement - right up to transport of the final palette. If we hadn't already proven this in the past, we would never have gotten another contract with Radlberger", reports Michael Schulz with a touch of pride in his voice.

The STILL RX 60-50 with its 600 mm load centre provides a considerably improved level of operational safety - our drivers simply feel better", confirm both Gundolf Edelbacher and Gerhard Fitz. Due to these positive experiences EGGER, the neighbouring private brewery, also chose STILL again at the end of 2012.

"The EGGER contract ended in March, 2013 but was renewed meaning that we were able to deliver 3 RX60-50 with a 600 mm centre of gravity and 1 RX-60-20 as part of a full-service leasing deal. This was confirmation for us that the both the vehicles as well as STILL Service met the expectations of our clients", explains Mr Schulz.