Shuttling goods between the factory and the warehouse can be a significant drain on resources that is often overlooked. But not by prominent flooring manufacturer Bjelin. The company enlisted the help of Joloda Hydraroll, a global leader in loading solutions, and its Finnish distributor, NWE Network Engineering, to streamline the loading and unloading process.
Future-proofing for rapid growth
Since it was founded in 2016, Bjelin has become a global company with more than 2,500 employees. To continue its rapid growth trajectory, Bjelin identified the need to future-proof its Swedish factory and operations. The facility has gone from producing 40,000 m2 of flooring in 2016 to 2.2 million m2 in 2022, and Bjelin wanted to create the capacity to produce up to five million m2 in the future.
As part of the future-proofing project, Bjelin required a loading solution that could streamline the transportation process between its factory and a newly built warehouse 23 km away. Raw materials are constantly transported from the warehouse to the factory, with pallets of finished flooring then returned to the combined warehouse and distribution centre.
Bjelin produces circa 200 pallets per day, amounting to between seven and 10 trailer loads. It is estimated that manually side-loading and unloading the trailers with forklift trucks would have taken 35-45 minutes at a time. In addition, each trailer load weighs about 20 tonnes, so securing the loads in the trailer with ratchet straps is essential. However, this process is also time-consuming and labour-intensive.
Moving floor system with automated cargo securing
Joloda Hydraroll’s Moving Floor System is an automated trailer-loading solution with motorised and adjustable slats to accommodate palletised items of different shapes and sizes. It optimises the loading process by reducing the need for forklift trucks and additional manual labour. To minimise the time spent manually securing the loads, Joloda Hydraroll also worked with its partner NWE and provider of the FIX Truck-Safe® System, a cargo-securing system with automatic lashing and re-tightening.
Implementation of the new automated loading process has resulted in several benefits.
Conclusion
Through its commitment to innovation, Bjelin now stands at the forefront of modern logistics. Implementing Joloda Hydraroll’s Moving Floor System and NWE’s FIX Truck-Safe® System to automate loading and unloading processes between the factory and warehouse has improved efficiency, increased productivity, and created a more sustainable, scalable logistics operation.
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