Thinking big

Moving fully fitted out modular data centres that weigh 18t is not a job for a lightweight machine, which is why BladeRoom is taking delivery of the largest 4-way Combilift forklift to be built so far

The shareholders of the BladeRoom Group previously ran the PKL Group, a global supplier of portable kitchens used for large scale events such as the Beijing Olympics. The company also has a division named ModuleCo which designs and builds modular hospitals including operating theatres. By pooling the key expertise of these operations - heat extraction and air management, BladeRoom has devised a solution to reduce the vast amounts of energy needed to cool banks of servers. This will not only enable companies in the IT sector to save millions of pounds on electricity bills but is also hugely beneficial to the environment.

"Servers generate exceptionally large amounts of heat - this sector is second only to the aviation industry when it comes to energy consumption," says BladeRoom CEO Paul Rogers. "Our pre-engineered factorybuilt data centres incorporate computer fluid dynamics to extract the maximum amount of heat with the minimum use of mechanical cooling. This has enabled us to achieve a world beating PUE of 1.1." A key part of the streamlined and efficient manufacturing process was a watertight handling system at BladeRoom's new production facility in Cinderford, Gloucestershire. Having looked at a number of conventional handling vehicles on the market, the company decided that they were not going to be up to the challenge of easily and quickly manouevering the 14 x 4.2m finished modules in and around the site.

BladeRoom's materials handling consultant HFT Forklifts (Hereford) investigated various possibilities including overhead gantry cranes and very large counterbalance trucks. The cranes were considered expensive and not practical to install in an L shaped building. The sheer physical size of a counterbalance forklift capable of moving loads of 18t at extended load centres would have taken up too much space in the manufacturing area.

Paul Rogers continues:"Materials handling is a crucial part of the build process and with the help of Kevin Heath at HFT we realised that one possibility was a much larger version of the 12 and 14t capacity Combilifts that we were already using. These have been invaluable for moving raw materials such as 14m long RSJ's and for lifting assembled roof units onto base units, so it seemed sensible to also look at a 4-way customised approach to handle the finished modules. " Together with Combilift's official distributor in the West Midlands Abex, and Combilift design engineers at the factory in Monaghan, specifications were drawn up for the super sized C25,000 model that will be shipped to Cinderford. Its capacity will allow BladeRoom to easily lift the fully fitted modules into place for pre delivery testing.

"The ideal solution from our point of view was a machine that could move modules in the same way as other operations move pallets - just on a much larger scale of course," says Rogers. "Thanks to the excellent customer service from all involved - HFT, Paul Raymond of Abex and Combilift direct - this is exactly what we will have in place." In spite of the truck's size - it measures 5m by 5m, with a 3.2m high cab, its exceptionally manoeuvrability will enable BladeRoom to lay out the manufacturing area more efficiently.Modules will be placed in rows to allow the Combilift to travel sideways along gangways between them, and the 4m lift height will enable modules to be doubled stacked.

BladeRoom's quality 'plug and play' modular data centres can be supplied in 18 or 20 weeks. The Combilift's flexibility to 'go anywhere and do anything' as Rogers puts it, will enable the company to proceed at the required pace to fulfil orders on the books as well as to cope with the growth it expects due to more and more interest from major plcs around the world.

A critical issue in the design of the recently-launched Combilift C25,000 was its platform height. The size of three single wheels required for a machine of this weight would have resulted in an unworkable platform height, but by using double wheels the platform has been kept to 1150mm.

Hydraulic fork positioners have also been incorporated as a standard feature, making life easier for the driver for whom it would be almost impossible to shift the extremely heavy forks manually. The shotblasting facility at the company's Monaghan assembly plant factory was not large enough to cope with assembled parts so steel elements were treated in sections before being assembled.

Martin McVicar, managing director, comments: "We were definitely faced with some issues when we embarked on this project, but our engineers once again rose to the challenge to create a Combilift which will do the job perfectly for the customer and which is remarkably manoeuvrable considering its size."