What began as a simple concept over a coffee and a sketch on a pad has now become a multiple award winning operation thanks to the collaborated team efforts of Linde Material Handling and market leader boiler manufacturer Vaillant Group.
The Vaillant Group is a family owned business which was founded 140 years ago and is a global market leader in compact wall-hung heating appliances. The UK factory in Belper, Derbyshire has been in operation for over 50 years, but it’s by no means old fashioned. Clean, bright, modern and quiet, you can clearly see why it’s won so many awards.
The site manufactures a staggering combined total of 400,000 Vaillant and Glow Worm branded boilers a year for the UK market. Every aspect of production takes place on the Belper site. In the last year, the introduction of new boiler types has more than doubled, prompting Vaillant to rethink the way they run their factory. With efficiency and safety at the forefront of their minds, Vaillant turned to Linde for advice.
Planned for completion in Spring 2016, the transformation at Vaillant is currently on going, phase one of installing; being two new production lines now complete and operational. No longer fed by four forklifts, these new lines are fed by the new Linde Logistics Train, resulting in fewer trips and better use of space – a huge leap forward in efficiency for Vaillant.
The Logistics Train is not an off the shelf product, it’s a modular system built specifically designed for every application. With its flexibility regarding load dimensions and weights it can offer a solution for any application. The Vaillant train consists of three sections, two bridge trailers which can carry two loads each (the equivalent of 4 pallet loads) pulled by an electric tow tractor (P 50).
The loads at Vaillant range from lightweight packaging materials to heavy motors which are loaded onto wheeled dollies then simply wheeled off from either side. When specifying the trailers, factors such as load heights of materials coming in from suppliers were taken into account to ensure a seamless flow when loading, eliminating the need for these loads to be broken down to fit onto the trailers.
The use of the logistics train means that fork lift trucks do not operate within the new production lines. A dedicated marked ‘road’ for the logistics train surrounding the production lines means pedestrian safety is assured.
LINDE MATERIAL HANDLING
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