Forward move
JCB trials its adapted telescopic boom Teletruk for quick, efficient removal of robots from car plant production lines. Siobhan Wagner reports
When a robot breaks down on a car production line, manufacturers look for the quickest and least disruptive way to remove it for maintenance and get things moving again.
One solution could be
TLT 35D adapted Teletruk forklift, which recently had its first big test at Jaguar and Land Rover's Halewood plant, in Liverpool. Previously the plant hired a crane or dismantles robots and repaired themin situ.
'Halewood had a fleet of forklifts, but none had the Teletruk's abilities,' said Mark Roberts, a Teletruk specialist from JCB dealer Gunn JCB. 'The main difference is the Teletruk is able to move its forks not only up and down but also forwards.'
The vehicle, a two-wheel-drive hydrostatic lift truck, uses a telescopic boom rather than a vertical mast and it is this boom's forward reach that enables the Teletruk to lift robots up and over the production line at the Halewood plant where the Jaguar X-Type and Land Rover Freelander 2 are assembled.
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