St Clare Engineering Ltd. develop a bespoke fork truck attachment

The Challenge:

As one of the worldÂ’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of engineering fluids and lubricants, Houghton International Inc. lift and move thousands of drums a week at their Manchester plant. There was a need to reduce the overall length of the fork truck attachment units to enable the trucks to turn easily between the storage racks. In addition there was a requirement for a secure system to attach and then release the drum handling units from the forks, and the need to eliminate the creation of dents and scratches at the base of the drums.

The Solution:

Following a site visit to assess Houghton InternationalÂ’s needs and requirements, St Clare Engineering produced a written report outlining their recommended solutions. A customised fork lift attachment was then manufactured in which the pillars (drum supports) were moved back on top of the fork pockets, 150mm wide webbing drum supports were fitted to cushion the drums and the Quick Release System was fitted to the frames. The end result was the Grab-O-Matic QR-2-DLR-WP.

The Result:

Lee Draper, Operations Manager at Houghton International Inc. said that since upgrading their Grab-O-Matic fork attachment to the Grab-O-Matic QR-2-DLR-WP, both safety and efficiency has increased.

“From the initial site visit Andy Bow from St Clare Engineering was committed to solving our problems and found solutions to solve the issues. From the offset our fork lift truck drivers immediately saw the benefits in the Quick Release system, particularly in their increased safety and reduced production times. Purchase was easy and efficient whilst manufactured bespoke to suit our fork trucks. We are very impressed by the quick release drum handlers and the efficient service provided by the team at St Clare Engineering.”

The Future:

After the success of the first 2 units purchased, Houghton International invested in 3 more Grab-O-Matic attachments; a Crane Hoist Attachment (model QR-SC-1), an Automatic Scissor Grip Drum Handler (model SG-1) and a Fork Attachment Drum Rotation Unit (model SC10), for dispensing the contents of a drum in a controlled manner. Houghton Global has also recently purchased 5 units for a similar operation in Spain based on the successful project in Manchester.