Sumobel Europa, the Spanish furniture retailer, has used BT forklift trucks from Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE) for two years, now deeming them an essential part of their material handling operations. Warehouse manager José Manuel Leiva commends the forklifts that Sumobel relies on, which include BT Reflex reach trucks and BT Staxio powered stacker trucks. For more information about reach trucks and powered stacker trucks, visit http://range.toyota-forklifts.eu

1. BT Reflex N-series case study
Sumobel Europa, Spain
This funiture retailer in Málaga, southern Spain, has only been using forklift trucks
for two years but they are now an essential part of the service they provide to their
customers.
José Manuel Leiva is the warehouse manager: different racking heights, depending on the size and volume partner relation with Toyota Material Handling España is
“The main activity of the company Sumobel Europa of the goods to be stored. very good. They always solve our problems, commercial and
is to sell furniture.” technical.
“We classify goods in order to optimise our use of space. We
The company has four shops and a central warehouse and have pieces at three metres high that we can reach with our “The collaboration is absolute. Sumobel Europa owns
showroom, where our interview took place. BT Staxio SPE125 stacker. The larger racking positions are the forklifts and has a maintenance contract with TMHES.
designated for big furniture items. We use stillages designed Periodically, the TMHES technician checks the trucks – even
“Here, we receive the furniture and sort it by destination. We to our specification. the paintwork. When he finishes the trucks look like new
also keep sold items according to the customer’s needs. We again!
manage everything relating to our products, from testing “Toyota is a very well known company, and the BT brand is
and approval, through to after-sales service – everything represented in the most important companies we know. We “One of the main benefits the BT trucks deliver to us is
from here! start using forklifts because of an urgent demand for space speed. Next it is the ability to fully utilise the space we have.
optimisation without having to expand the floor area of our We are not able to calculate the benefits of working with BT
“And absolutely everything that comes in or goes out of this store. Now, of course, the operation relies on them. trucks. With BT we have won in all respects: speed, reduced
company goes through here. Our forklift drivers are trained manual handling, optimisation of space, flexibility, and safety
and qualified – they are a key part of our operations. If a “The first forklift that came in to this company was a BT. The at work, all thanks to the different forklift features.”
truck stops, the company stops. Our forklifts are operation
all day and we cannot work without them, particularly our
reach truck [BT Reflex N-series].
“However, we’ve only been using forklifts for two years. They
have made a big difference. We use to handle the goods
manually, needing more movements and effort. Now, the
risk of damage is lower as goods are moved just twice – in
and out. It is not only better for the furniture but also for our
workers in that the physical effort required has been reduced.
“The importance of working with forklifts is enormous. We
could not do it without forklift trucks! In an ordinary day, we
receive and put away about 100 pallets, plus deliveries to the
customers – about 100 pallets more. We always have some
extra orders, so we are taking about 250 pallets per day with
no time for delays.
“Our foklifts have to be in operation constantly. We stack to
eight metres, using a truck lift height of 6.5 metres. We have