AMERICAN SPRAY
TECH CASE STUDY

AST’s sustained growth was, and still is, reflected in their daily operations – running up to two shifts per day, sometimes 3 to fulfill large customer contracts. At the core of their production was a combined fleet of electric forklifts, end-rider pallet jacks, and narrow aisle reach trucks. The backbone of their logistics, AST’s material handling equipment was what ensured the steady stream of manufacturing materials in and finished product out.

As a result of AST’s successes and continual growth, operational bottlenecks began to surface and steadily amplify. The workhorses that AST had relied on, an aging fleet of Toyota and Raymond forklifts, struggled to handle the demands of a multiple shift, chemical manufacturing application. The main obstacle to sustainable production growth for AST was equipment reliability. When equipment was down, production was effectively halted. Without their forklifts, AST had no way to move pallets from one production stage to the next. Without these key machines, AST’s entire facility’s production line was crippled.

Further compounding equipment failure, AST lacked a responsive and knowledgeable partner capable of solving their unique materials handling challenges. It was common for AST to wait days or even weeks for their service provider to respond, properly diagnose and resolve issues. As time went on, a painful pattern of misdiagnosis and incorrectly specced replacement components began to emerge. Leadership at AST realized they had not only outgrown their forklifts, but the provider responsible for keeping them running smoothly as well.