Significant long-term investment in the expansion of Made for Trade’s fleet of delivery vehicles

Made for Trade have announced a significant long-term investment in the expansion of their fleet of delivery vehicles. Each of the 10 new vehicles also comes equipped with another MFT design innovation, changing the way their products are handled both at the factory and also at delivery sites, the new design significantly decreases risk and puts safety of their employees first.

MFT’s announcement, along with other news of their product expansion is a strong indication of their industry position and growth plans throughout 2020-2021 and beyond. “For some time, we have been looking at the handling challenges presented by the loading and unloading of large heavy products from our wagons and we had some good design ideas of what we wanted to achieve. With sales dictating a need for more wagons to satisfy increasing delivery requirements we took the opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone and had a custom fleet developed with local vehicle suppliers. We think this is a first in fenestration and is a significant step forward in transport safety.” Chris Wann. Business Manager.

2020 has been a tough year for many businesses within the fenestration industry and some of the industry heavy hitters are either gone or have been significantly reshaped. Thankfully, it has not all been doom and gloom and there are many winners as a market driven by home improvements went stratospheric. With ongoing investment in new vehicles, additional staff and the expansion of their delivery coverage, Made for Trade really do mean business as they enter 2021 in a strong position with some exciting new developments on the brink of release into the market.

The new 12-tonne Rollaflex vehicles have been commissioned from a local vehicle supplier with the functional design concept provided by the engineering team at MFT. The brief was to come up with a cost-effective loading and unloading solution which minimised the risks associated with manual lifting and provided a safe means of working at a height. Health and safety is one of MFT’s top priorities when it comes to the welfare of their staff and the safe delivery of their products.

The logistics cycle starts off with the doors being moved from coded dispatch racks and loaded onto specially made stillages at floor level. As each door is placed onto the stillage a set of soft slings are fitted to predetermined safe positions depending on the style of door. Once all stillages are full, the wagons move into the loading positions, the retractable curtain is drawn back, and the stillage is moved by forklift onto the wagon bed and locked into place.

Once at the customers site, the driver conducts a risk assessment, cordons off the area and uses an articulated crane mounted to the vehicle bed for the safe and secure unloading of the door from the wagon to the ground in readiness for the customer to collect. The new design ensures that manual lifting of the doors is eliminated and that the operator is always safe, even when working from the unprotected wagon sides to attach the crane hook to the slings via a retractable barrier.

The addition of more vehicles to the fleet also allows MFT to increase their delivery coverage area to include several new postcodes in Scotland. This move, the implementation of the first phase of a larger growth plan, cements the company’s intention to provide their top class service to customers that had previously struggled to obtain MFT door products alongside the Korniche lantern roof which is delivered nationwide.

For more updates on this news, new product releases and to see how MFT provide the ‘Best Products’, at the ‘Best Prices’ with the ‘Best Service’, head over to www.madefortrade.co and register online to receive regular emails.

We would also like to take this opportunity to say a big thanks to all our customers in what has been a turbulent 2020. Your loyalty has contributed entirely to our great sales volume, which in turn allows us to maintain the level of investment needed to improve service and expand our trade product range available to you, our customers. With these improvements to our service and 2 new products ready for launch in the new year, here’s hoping for a smoother journey in 2021.

Tel: 01642 610799
E: sales@madefortrade.co