Briggs Equipment wins Royal Mint Supplier Award

Following a successful bid process in 2012 to supply their first rental fleet, Briggs Equipment UK and The Royal Mint have been working in partnership to support the crucial manufacture, despatch and shipping of the coins to issuing authorities around the world.

Local company Briggs, who are based in Cannock, provided a fleet of 64 forklift trucks via a long term rental agreement and an additional 116 pieces of customer owned equipment on site working up to 24 hours a day. The provision of a trusted full service fleet management solution alongside uniquely customised equipment and a dedicated, pro-active on-site engineer is paramount to The Royal Mint’s operational continuity, so that is exactly what Briggs provides.

On October 13th, Briggs Equipment UK was recognised in the ‘Goods and Services’ category at The Royal Mint Supplier Awards 2017. The award follows five years of working closely with The Royal Mint to continually improve the safety and cost efficiency of the working environment through unique solutions tailored to the needs of the business.

Mark Williams, Section Engineer at The Royal Mint explained: “In partnership with The Royal Mint, Briggs Equipment has been doing some excellent work in identifying areas where the business can reduce the damage costs for the vehicles.”

This process is managed through regular review meetings during which Briggs provides comprehensive information and advice on the fleet’s performance in terms of vehicle hours and fleet rotation. This is supported by the provision of full and current fleet information at group, site and even individual machine level via BE Portal; a market leading interactive web-based reporting system.

Some simple but effective examples of how Briggs have adapted the fleet to meet the unique needs of their customer include the manufacture of a bespoke set of furnace forks featuring indentations specific to the dimensions of the charge bins so that the payload was secure and stable at all times. This was not only an important health and safety consideration, but the adaptation eliminated the unnecessary cost of potential damage.

Another cost saving solution delivered by the Briggs team based on detail provided by BE Portal was the reduction of damage that was occurring across the site to chargers, cables and plugs. Following a Health and Safety Audit carried out by Briggs’ Service Manager and SHEQ Advisor it was discovered that charger cables and leads were being left on the floor when not in use, and so were being repeatedly run over by the forklifts in operation. Briggs proposed a cable retractor system which was implemented across all 57 charge points to retain the cables in a safe and secure position, a move that delivered annual savings of almost £2,000.

Another cost saving highlighted by the spend reports was that the front windscreens of the Yale ERC25VG forklifts were being repeatedly damaged by blowback from the furnace incurring costs of over £8,600. Briggs and The Royal Mint worked together to find a solution for this which in the end was to secure a sacrificial polycarbonate screen in front of the existing toughened foundry specification windscreen. Briggs worked alongside Hyster-Yale Group to ensure the modification was going to be suitable, safe and compliant prior to implementation.

Mark Williams who has been working closely with the Briggs team was very supportive of Briggs in winning the award, and said: “Briggs provides The Royal Mint with a high standard service, with great attention to detail and reliable service staff who are courteous and professional.”