Services & Products : Superflat Training

‘Superflat’ Floor
‘Superflat’ has, over the years become a generic term for a degree of floor flatness required to operate a Very Narrow Aisle (VNA) truck where in fact ‘Superflat’ is an actual category of flatness defined in the Concrete Societies Technical Report 34 (TR34). There are varying degrees of flatness requirement and all relate to the height of the racking system that the VNA truck is to service. Superflat, as defined by TR34 is specified where the top beam of the racking exceeds 13m. In the same table there are two other degrees of flatness; Category 1 for rack heights between 8 and 13 metres and Category 2 for racking heights less than 8 metres.

TR34’s Appendix C also introduces a surface regularity specification that is soon to be the basis of a European specification and is similar to the American Fmin requirement. In Germany DIN 15185 is specified and as the majority of VNA trucks are manufactured in Germany, the DIN standard is occasionally specified.

No matter what specification is required, be it TR34 Table 4.3, TR34 Appendix C, DIN 15185 or the American Fmin standard, a flat floor is a flat floor and the way the floor is constructed will not differ.

Read more on Floor Flatness Specifications

‘Superflat’ Training
Face Consultants have been training contractors to construct ‘Superflat’ floors for over 20 years and to date have supervised the laying of millions of square metres, on many continents.

Constructing ‘Superflat’ floors starts on the drawing board. Without a proposed racking layout, the floor cannot be designed or constructed to be ‘Superflat’, as the floor will only be ‘Superflat within the aisles and in the direction the VNA forklift truck will travel. ‘Superflat’ floors are not ‘Superflat’ in all directions.

After designing the floor, we will advise the contractor on the specialist equipment required to construct the floor, discuss necessary manpower and detailed method statements. Concrete Mix designs will also be considered where discussions with the concrete supplier on mix and consistency are paramount.

Our highly experienced team will provide on site instruction to the contractor, teach the skills and techniques essential to achieving a high degree of floor flatness. Using the Face Digital Profileograph, building progress can be tested and techniques fine tuned where discrepancies are highlighted.