The Hunter Valley is the oldest wine producing region in the country and also one of the most awarded for the premium wines produced there. For many years Powerlift Nissan has been supplying forklifts to the wineries and with customers including Drayton Family Wines, Lakes Folly Wines, McGuiggan Wines, Glandore Estate Wines, Tower Estate, Scarborough Wine Company, Meerea Park Wines, Tempus Two and now First Creek Wines. Powerlift Nissan is recognised as one of the leading forklift suppliers to the region.
First Creek Wines is the latest winery to take delivery of a fleet of forklifts, 7 x TX Series 1.8 tonne capacity 3 wheel counterbalanced electric forklifts each fitted with 4300mm 3 stage wide view masts, side shifts and heavy duty traction batteries with single point watering systems.
First Creek Wines is in the top 5 Hunter wineries for production, processing 3,500 tonnes of grapes per season making approximately 175,000 cases of wine. It also offers professional winemaking services to more than 32 boutique labels, and bottling for more than 100 companies including Tulloch, Two Rivers, Gartelmann, Ivanhoe, Krinklewood, Hungerford Hill & Mt Broke wines.
First Creek Wines also provides the latest systems in wine closing technology and invested in additional refinements to the existing bottling line to provide greater productivity. This was necessary to meet production targets for its larger clients.
According to Greg Silkman, General Manager at First Creek, it’s a busy winery and the new Nissans play a critical role in the efficiency of the operation.
“We’ve had a lot of success with electric forklifts in that we like the clean environment they provide, an issue that is important to us as the forks are working in our production facility, in close proximity to the grapes, wines and most importantly our staff,” he said. “We find with the diesel and LPG there are some emissions and we don’t want them in our work place.”
The new Nissans are used in a number of applications around the winery, from loading and unloading large bins of grapes to moving palletised loads of wine cases from the storage areas to delivery trucks.
“Forklifts are integral to this business, they are working constantly throughout the day doing pretty much everything, so they have to be reliable and perform well. Above all the forklift operators have to be happy with them,” said Silkman. The Nissan TX series is designed with the operator in mind. Ergonomically designed controls in a user friendly cab provides excellent operator comfort for increased productivity and extended working hours.
The TX series is powered by AC Technology which enhances longer battery operating hours and reduces the frequency of services. In normal applications the TX series is designed to operate for up to 1200 hours before servicing is required.
“We’re happy with the new forklifts and so are the operators... the service has been terrific”
The series also includes LCD monitors with self diagnostic function and PIN access and this can be programmed to the requirements of each operator. Travel speeds and heights can be limited to ensure a safe work environment.
The Nissan TX series features a compact design and a small turning circle for operating in tight spaces and an anti roll back system for operator safety.
“We’re very happy with the new forklifts and so are the operators,” said Silkman. “We had a couple of minor teething issues but the guys from Powerlift were out here immediately, so the service has been terrific. We’ve also had feed back that some of the units only require charging every three or four days which is excellent.”
“This is the first time that we’ve purchased Nissan forks from Powerlift Nissan, although I’ve known Allan Peacock from the Newcastle branch for some 10 years, he’s never had quite the right product for our application, so we’ve never been able to do business together,” he said. “But when we were in the market for this new fleet we gave him the chance to tender, he understood our requirements and came back with the right solution.”
According to Allan Peacock, understanding the First Creek business was fundamental and then being prepared to deliver quickly helped secure the deal.
“I received the phone call on the Thursday and by the following Monday we had units into the facility for the guys to put them through their paces. They liked what they saw, we cut the deal with Greg and had the order by the following Wednesday,” he said. “I think they are still waiting to hear back from the other forklift supplier.”
“I’ve said before, the Hunter Valley wine making community is small and everyone compares notes, so as a supplier of forklifts it is imperative that we set our standards high and maintain them. First Creek Wines is a good example of right product, right time, moving quickly to secure the order and then servicing the customer to the right levels of expectation,” he said. “We want to grow our business in this region and we’ll only do that by continuing to the do the right thing by our customers.”
“Forklifts are integral to this they are working"
