Manitou recently supplied 17 machines to long-standing client West End Clay Bricks in Westonaria. The range, including rough terrain forklifts and rough terrain telehandlers, is fully supported with a dedicated Manitou technician who will remain on site for the duration of the 5-year rental contract to ensure maximum uptime for West End Clay Bricks.

West End Clay Bricks, which produces an enormous 350 000 bricks each day, has relied on Manitou machinery for the past 14 years for lifting and transporting raw and saleable materials in its manual operation. These applications include moving bricks from extrusion lines right through to loading palletised loads onto trucks.

“We had to pair the lifting requirements of West End Clay Bricks (which vary from one to six tons) with machines that would also be suitable to safely handle loads at an extended reach of up to five metres,” says Eric de Wet, Area Sales Manager, Manitou Southern Africa. “Not only can our machines handle both the various lift and reach requirements, they are also equipped with hydraulic load balancing systems and load sensing charts to ensure maximum levels of safety.” In addition, three of the machines are equipped with double-pallet forks to increase the load capacity of each trip.

“These machines work flat-out throughout both day and night shifts in very dusty and muddy conditions to achieve our high output targets,” says Francois Aveling, Operations Director, West End Clay Bricks. To address these rough terrain conditions, Manitou has equipped the entire fleet with double filters and double fuel filtration systems.

West End Clay Bricks benefit from having a Manitou technician, Kobus Esterhuizen, dedicated solely to its site. In addition to regular service and maintenance, the technician, together with operators, conduct a 36-point check every morning to ensure the machines are working to spec before operation commences. These checklists cover everything from brake lights to torque convertors and not only reduce downtime but also add to operator’s accountability. In line with this, Manitou equipped each machine with the AMS 2000 engine management and driver identification software. This software enables both Manitou and West End Clay Bricks to manage and monitor driver and machine performance with real-time analytical reporting.

With the AMS 2000, each operator is assigned an identification tag that is paired to certain machines. On the operator side, the system adds accountability enabling managers to track the way each operator drives the machine, how long they were idling each day as well as the routes they took. From an engine performance perspective, the system monitors critical performance elements. If the machine is low on oil, for example, the system will automatically shut it down and no one but the site foreman can reset it after re-filling the oil. This innovative software and driver identification system is drastically reducing downtime for West End Clay Bricks.

Manitou also provided a three-day training course with SABS certification for all 23 operators. This training ensures that the operators are confident when driving the machines in the real-field conditions at West End Clay Bricks. This not only reduces machine damage and downtime, but it also familiarises the drivers with the machines’ capabilities with a full-load of bricks.

“As we are a manual operations plant, everything gets handled by forklifts, telehandlers or loaders. Without them, our production comes to a standstill,” concludes Aveling. “The quality of Manitou machines and the exceptional service and support we receive are the reasons why we have relied on them for over 14 years.”

West End Clay Bricks employs 250 people at their site in Westonaria, South Africa. The new Manitou fleet includes: three MHT-X 780 and four MT-X 625 rough terrain telehandlers, five MX 50-2 and six MX 30-2 rough terrain forklifts as well as four MI-35 conventional forklifts in their existing fleet.