Electric fork lift truck passes field test at Creabeton Matériaux

Stringent requirements on performance and economic feasibility

Creabeton Matériaux has high expectations of fork lift trucks as the working conditions are very tough. The heaviest loads must be lifted and transported, meaning that complex attachments are sometimes necessary. The driver cabs must be dust-proof and protected against spray, specifically for outdoor use. Robust, hard-wearing components are also required for the projects that will be undertaken. The heavy concrete parts must also be carefully transported to avoid being smashed in the process. In addition, despite the heavy loads, the company wishes to use the fork lift trucks over a period of ten years, as Christopher Reid, who is responsible for the fork lift trucks at Creabeton Matériaux AG, explains. High efficiency is particularly important from his perspective, which is the result of high throughput and low consumption.

Robust load carriages with many extras

To achieve the desired efficiency whilst also taking responsibility for the environment, the company phased out all diesel fork lift trucks back in 2006 and replaced these with electric fork lift trucks. Long years of experience with these units led Creabeton Matériaux to field test our EFG 550 four-wheel electric fork lift truck, a particularly high-performance, energy-efficient unit.

The field test confirmed that the EFG 550 required less energy than older trucks. This extra efficiency was partly due to the truck’s compact controller and three-phase technology. These continued developments are part of the Pure Energy concept, which stands for exceptional throughput and low energy consumption, therefore meaning excellent efficiency.

We equipped the EFG 550 with particularly robust components in order to ensure the required durability despite the heavy loads. A mast buffer, which was retro-fitted to previous units at the request of Creabeton Matériaux and has now become standard, prevents transported goods from being damaged on some of the longer journeys. The more stable steer axle, which better absorbs hard impacts on uneven routes and therefore minimises vibrations, was installed at the request of Creabeton Matériaux.

The EFG S-series, with its high load centre of 600 millimetres and a capacity of up to 5,000 kilograms, is ideal for the performance required by Creabeton Matériaux for heavy-duty work with complex attachments. Other advantages are that the truck can be fitted with different forks to handle materials of different widths, the simplified battery change, and in particular the increased energy efficiency due to the new 'Efficiency' and 'Drive&Lift Plus' equipment variants. They enable particularly long operation times.

The EFG 550 impresses

The EFG 550 passed the field test at Creabeton Matériaux. Christopher Reid: “We have tested the EFG 550, along with our 34 older Jungheinrich electric fork lift trucks” in all tasks they are expected to complete. It carried out all internal material transport, including the loading of lorries and rail carriages, and also picked up pallets loaded with concrete parts from the production site and transported them to the block warehouse. As well as energy efficiency and performance - its ease of use was also impressive in our opinion. Staff who have used the new S series have only good things to say about it.”