Frequently Asked Questions

The more information you give us the easier and quicker it is for us to determine the best manual handling solutions for you. If possible provide us with:

• type of load to be handled;
• dimensions of load;
• weight of the load;
• any limiting distances and/or clearances;
• how often the process is to be carried out;
• any special requirements of the area;
• preferred method of power (if not manual).

Photographs, videos and drawings are extremely useful when assessing handling issues. If you can email any files to us at [email protected] this will help us to find the best solution for you.

We develop a large amount of new products year on year, so we’ve split our products into two categories.

Standard products: These are fully developed products that we’ve sold before. Lead times on these units are shorter than bespoke products and in most cases, no design work is required. Standard products can be shipped to customers globally.

Bespoke products: These are custom one-off builds made to suit individual customer requirements; often we create these by adapting existing products. Lead times on bespoke units are longer than standard products and we’ll carry out technical design work before manufacturing begins. Due to the nature of bespoke work we’re only able to supply bespoke products within the UK.

ATEX-certified equipment is required in certain hazardous areas where there is a risk of fire or explosion. We can manufacture equipment to comply with the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU. You can find further details about ATEX here.

In the UK, we can supply certain manual handling equipment on a sale-or-return basis. With a sale-or-return agreement, you can use a unit for a seven-day trial period, with no obligation to buy the unit once the trial is up. This is a great way for you and your company or operators to try a product on-site before making the decision to buy or not. If you decide not to keep the unit, we’ll pay all the delivery and pick-up costs.

We require a sale-or-return purchase order from our customers before dispatching equipment; this allows us to send an invoice should you confirm that you want to keep your unit. We won’t invoice the order unless you confirm to us that you wish to buy the equipment after the trial period.

Whenever possible we’ll arrange for a member of our product team to visit your site. Contact us if you’d like to organise a demonstration or site visit.

We design and manufacture our products in the UK, and they are the best available on the market. We develop our drum handling equipment with the user in mind and continually review each design to ensure compliance with UK health and safety regulations and guidance.

Explore our process to learn all about our UK manufacturing facility.

We have over 17 years’ experience in the manual handling industry, solving problems and developing solutions; whether you’re buying in bulk or just enquiring, our team will guide you every step of the way.

We believe that customer service doesn’t end when equipment leaves the factory. Our support team is always on hand to answer any questions that may arise.

We are well known in the manual handling world: long-standing supporters of STS equipment regularly return to us when new handling issues emerge.

We export more and more equipment overseas each year. We have distributors in Australia, Belgium, France, Spain and the Netherlands, and we can also ship drum handling equipment directly from our factory. On request, we can quote for various transportation methods to supply our products internationally. Get in touch to find out more.

Videos are a great way to demonstrate the capability of the equipment we manufacture.

Website product pages will often feature a video of the product in operation. You can also visit our YouTube channel where all STS videos are available for you to browse.

All STS products come with a warranty:

Our UK warranty information can be found here.

Our overseas and export warranty can be found here.

We support all our customers should they ever encounter a technical issue. Our technical team can offer industry-leading advice and support covering all the products we manufacture.

Firstly find out your product’s name and serial number – these are displayed on the test plate attached to the unit. Then just get in touch to discuss any problems, and we’ll be happy to help.

You can find operation and maintenance manuals for our standard products here. For bespoke products please contact us via email and we’ll be happy to help.

Depending on your requirements the documents we provide can include:

• operation and maintenance manual;
• load test certificate;
• EU Declaration of Conformity.

We’re happy to supply copies of documents upon request. For any documentation enquiries please email our helpdesk via [email protected].

Some companies may require additional documents. We’ll supply additional documents should this be a customer requirement, but we may have to charge depending on the time it takes us to complete the extra documentation.

Your product will come with an operation and maintenance manual, which contains all the information you need on servicing and maintaining your product.

You can also find operation and maintenance manuals for all of our standard products here. For bespoke products, please get in touch via email and we’ll be more than happy to help.

At this current time, we don’t offer service contracts with our equipment. We recommend using local forklift truck engineers for any inspection and maintenance requirements.

Our team of engineers and technical staff will readily specify and supply you with spare parts for all of our products.

Generally, we ask for the equipment serial number and customer name for us to quote for spare parts.

Photographs of old parts are a great way of avoiding any confusion or misinterpretation about what part is required. You can send your photos to [email protected].