A champion will rise (and pick and stabilise)
Contestants on a roll at the Foodstuffs North Island forklift rodeo.
We love to see it when Kiwi companies go beyond the every day with special events to celebrate and champion the skill of their people. One such initiative occurred in October, when Foodstuffs North Island held their forklift ‘rodeo’, an annual event designed to test the focus, knowledge, and expertise of their MHE operators.
Universal Packaging was one of the sponsors for the Foodstuffs North Island MHE Operator of the Year.
Heats were held earlier in the year at the Auckland and Palmerston North DC’s, with five finalists in each of the three categories – the reach truck, counterbalance, and low-level order picking machines.
“It’s just a fun way to both reinforce safety and recognise our most skilled operators,” said Mark Pene, Foodstuffs Process Coordinator. “We had a great event, an amazing BBQ lunch and some intense competition between the contestants.”
The various driving challenges and assessments included a pre-operation test, a practical drive, a 25-question quiz, and a novelty driving course – where operators had to undertake tasks such as moving a pallet with a ball balancing on a cone through a slalom course and into a goal.
In addition, there were also workplace observations undertaken for each contestant, ensuring they displayed the same skill and integrity in their daily work as they did during the event.
With all the boxes to tick (and move), Mark said it was understandable that “nerves and pressure ran high through most of the day.”
“The highlight of the finals was the novelty course. The crowd enjoyed seeing if the ball would land in the goal at the end of it,” he said.
Despite the multifaceted skill of all competitors, at the end of the event there could be only one winner in each section. James Suka won the Counterbalance category, Wesley Kahu the Reach Truck section, and Christopher Matealona the Low-Level Order Picker category.
Each winner walked away with a trophy, an air fryer, a $300 prezzy card, and a goody bag of items from sponsors (including some cool kit from Universal Packaging).
It’s fantastic to see such an emphasis placed on skill and safety in DC’s. Events like this help celebrate the expertise needed to move goods quickly and safely from pick to dispatch.
Jonathan Box, GM Supply Chain, presenting the winners with their prizes:
