National Lumber: Safer Material Handling through Combilift

National Lumber: Safer Material Handling through Combilift

by Gearoid Hogan

National Lumber

National Lumber is a third generation family owned and operated company, recognized as the largest and leading independent lumber and building materials dealer in New England. Founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1934 by Morris Kaitz, National Lumber currently employs more than 500 employees and operates five distribution yards in Massachusetts.

A Growing Company

One of the major drivers of National Lumber’s recent growth was the company’s purchase in 2003 of Reliable Truss and Components (a manufacturer of engineered products, located in New Bedford), to meet the growing demand for wall panels, roof and floor trusses.

As National Lumber grew, one of the biggest challenges to overcome was better handling of increasing demands for long lengths of Engineered Wood Products (EWP), over lengthy distances, especially in the company’s Mansfield location. John Intravaia, Corporate Operations Manager explains “We receive 60 to 66 foot long units of I-Joist off Rail Cars; it was a logistical nightmare trying to move this product safely through our lumber yard, a quarter of a mile in length.”

Manny Pina, President of National Lumber explains “In the mid-nineties we started to develop quite a fleet of Moffets and they were great for job site deliveries especially for I-Joists.  With so much long length product being sold and processed through our yard we needed special equipment other than Moffets to become proficient in the I-Joist business.”

Safety is a top priority at National Lumber and the movement of long lengths of EWP material over such a long distance through a busy yard for storage was a major concern ─ Combilift provided that solution.

Safer Product Handling

Eight years ago, National Lumber was one of the first lumber companies to introduce Combilift forklifts to handle their EWP. Manny Pina recalls being at a trade show and meeting with Martin McVicar, CEO of Combilift who filled him in on his new endeavor, the 4-way forklift. Pina notes, “After selling us on the advantages over conventional forklifts we purchased one and worked with Combilift to get the most out of this great product.”

Today, Combilift plays a big role in handling National Lumber’s EWP ─ Intravaia explains, “Combilift is primarily used to help us handle long EWP such as I-Joist and LVL’s. The Combilift can safely and more efficiently move our EWP from railcar to cantilever racking and solved our logistical nightmare. The ability to place the EWP on the cutting platform is a real bonus for us. This means safer product handling over long distances. In our New Bedford facility, The Combilift allows us to handle long lengths of EWP sometimes up to 66’ where space is tight.”

Better Utilization of Space

With improved safer workflow, National Lumber strived towards increased space efficiency as a result of The Combilift. Intravaia notes, “The Company wanted to sell more of the same product and storage space was limited; so we had to go up.”

Not only were National Lumber able to safely place more EWP on racks but they also reduced their aisle widths, allowing increased product storage. “Before Combilift, we had to operate in aisle widths of 20+ feet now we can maneuver in a 12 foot aisle,” Intravaia adds. Before making use of The Combilift, National Lumber could only rack EWP along the perimeter of their yards, now they can place EWP in 12 foot aisles and to heights of 16 feet.

Pina adds, “We have now purchased our 5th machine and the Combilift has become an integral part of our operations. It is a very effective and safe means to maneuver long lengths and the sideways concept has allowed for tighter stocking aisles in our yards which saves time and space.”

Cost Savings

In addition to safer product handling and better utilization of space, Combilift has reduced costs. Intravaia says, “With the C14000 Combilift, we can safely handle up to three units of EWP at one time, for us that translates into cost savings in terms of time, labor, fuel, wear and tear. The Combilift saves us time by allowing us to load and offload product to/from a cutting saw and bring that product directly to a staged area ready for delivery.  In addition, The Combilift can be used as a conventional forklift. The Combilift is a high quality product; with strong reliability coupled with an equally strong backup service.”

Bob Perry, Fleet Manager for National Lumber adds, “From a maintenance standpoint, Combilifts are easy to work on and we have been very impressed with the developments made to The Combilift since we bought our first machine in 1999.”

Into the Future

As National Lumber continues to grow its EWP business, the company sees Combilift very much a part of operations. Pina adds, “The larger Combilift carries great capacity allowing multi-unit moves of engineered product at one time speeding up production. Great machine for our type of business, Combilift has helped us grow and we appreciate it.”

Intravaia surmises, “We would like to have more EWP in our distribution yards, as we continue to expand our business in other facilities we would like to add Combilifts. Our operators enjoy using The Combilift and we see Combilift as a good partner to our business as we continue to grow.”

About Combilift:

Combilift was established in 1998 by Martin McVicar and Robert Moffett. The principals, both engineers, founded Combilift on the basis of over 40 years combined engineering experience and a perceived need in the market for an ultimate long-load material handling solution. From this experience and perceived market need was created the Combilift, the invention of the two founders of Combilift. The Combilift is the world’s first engine-powered all-wheel-drive multi-directional materials handling device, a combination of forklift and side-loader. The Combilift was one of the reasons Martin McVicar was awarded the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2001 in Ireland.

 

About the Author:

Gearoid Hogan serves as Marketing Manager for Combilift USA. Prior to joining Combilift, he worked in a number of marketing related positions in Europe and more recently as a Marketing Executive for the Irish Government Trade Board where he supported Irish companies entering and developing in North America. Gearoid earned a Bachelor of Business specializing in Marketing from Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland and a Master of Science in Marketing Practice from University College Dublin, Ireland. He was recently awarded A Certificate in Global Affairs by the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.