Opustone Video Case Study – Toyota Forklifts

Toyota Forklift & Opustone

Announcer: Few products are as heavy and awkward to handle as natural stone and tile. These massive stones are used for creating beautiful countertops, flooring, and more. They are being stored here at Opustone in Miami, Florida.

Opustone is one of the largest distributors of natural stone products in the state, with operations in Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami. The company specializes in stone used in construction, remodeling, and landscaping. The granite, marble, and onyx slabs come to Miami in containers from quarries in Italy, Spain, Greece, Brazil, Turkey, as well as other parts of the world.

The task of unloading the slabs and moving them around the property is made easier with a fleet of 15 Toyota forklifts. These LPG powered trucks have the muscle to handle loads up to 5,000 pounds. Once in the yard, this truck is equipped with a special telescopic boom attachment and sling that allows the slabs to be moved around and loaded onto delivery trucks.

David Mansur: The slabs are big sheets of granite that goes from 600-1,200 pounds, so the Toyota forklift has been very helpful and have been helping us not only in maneuverability, but also on the safety of the operation as well.

Announcer: The Miami facility is the company’s hub and largest operation. It actually comprises four buildings, some of which are across a city street. Throughout the workday, the forklifts cross back and forth between the buildings with their heavy loads.

In addition to the large slabs, the facility also handles cut stone and tile. These arrive in crates, most of them from Europe and Asia. The forklifts unload the crates and take them to the various buildings where they are floor stacked as many as four crates high. This building also holds some of the tiles in storage racks.

Opustone has been using Toyota forklifts exclusively in all of its facilities for several years now.

David Mansur: We have been operating with different other brands before, other manufacturers. Since a few years, the Toyota equipment has been the ones that has been lasting longer. The versatility in terms of operation because as you see, we have a different, let’s say front of work. Our operation’s kind of complex, and I think that the Toyota has been suitable for this type of work.

Announcer: Part of that suitability is the fact that these Toyota forklifts are designed to be very maneuverable, which helps drivers easily negotiate the tight confines of the stacks of tiles. The see-through masts also enable drivers to monitor their loads, and the masts themselves have three stage, to lift loads high for safe stacking and retrieving.

Luis Penalo: Well this little equipment is ready to large containers. We go around the yard and with not even one pilot, with two pilot you can do anything with the forklift and the capacity of the forklifts are 4,500 pounds, which is able to go to across the street in the other warehouse and load trucks, any large container, like I said.

Announcer: A work cage is also used here. Lifted by the forklifts, the cage allows employees doing inventory to get closer to the products stacked high in the warehouse.

These durable fork trucks work both inside and outside of the buildings. While moving the heavy stone throughout the property, they encounter dust and take their share of abuse as they perform the needed work.

David Mansur: It’s almost like a cage fight. Right? We punish. There is a lot of punishment on the forklift. And as you can see, they react or they perform very well. But the most important is the technical support or technical assistance. In the moment that we need to, our warehouse supervisor or manager will call Toyota, and they will come. And they will either work on site, or they will send another forklift to replace the one that has to be sent to their shop to be fixed. So we operate in very good partnership, I would say, with Toyota local dealers or technical support.

Announcer: Moving these heavy products, loading delivery trucks, stacking and storing tile, these Toyota trucks are up to the rugged task. They offer the flexibility and maneuverability that Opustone needs to remain rock solid in its distribution.