Home>Goods In & Out>Loading bay equipment>Moving floor system streamlines loading
Home>Goods In & Out>Loading bay safety>Moving floor system streamlines loading
ARTICLE

Moving floor system streamlines loading

08 December 2023

Flooring manufacturer accelerates shuttle cycle between its factory and warehouse.

AS PART of plans to future-proof its operation in Sweden, Bjelin enlisted the help of Joloda Hydraroll and its Finnish distributor NWE Network Engineering, to streamline the loading and unloading process, reduce carbon emissions, and uphold the highest safety standards.

Bjelin supply chain director Pär Jönsson, says: “Our expansion plan is quite immense and we could foresee future challenges with unloading and loading. We needed to find a solution to help the process become as swift as possible, whilst also taking out some of the forklift truck traffic from the loading bays.”

Bjelin’s factory is located in Viken, Sweden, which is 23 km away from its new warehouse in Helsingborg. The company must constantly load and transport raw materials from the warehouse to the factory, then return pallets of finished wooden flooring to the combined warehouse and distribution centre. 

Bjelin produces circa 200 pallets per day of various-sized finished goods, which amount to between seven and 10 trailer loads. It is estimated that manually side-loading and unloading the trailers with forklift trucks would have taken between 35-45 minutes at both the factory and the warehouse.

In addition, each trailer load weighs about 20 tonnes (20 pallets at one tonne each), so securing the loads in the trailer with ratchet straps is essential. However, this process is also time-consuming and labour-intensive. Due to the varying shapes and sizes of the pallets, truck drivers need to secure the loads by manually threading and tightening ratchet straps to the trailer, which adds to driver waiting times. 

Joloda Hydraroll proposed its Moving Floor System, an innovative automated trailer-loading solution with motorised and adjustable slats to accommodate palletised items of different shapes and sizes. It is designed to optimise logistics operations by reducing the need for forklift trucks and additional manual labour during the loading process. To minimise the time spent 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.

Video

To see the Moving Floor System in action at the Bjelin factory and warehouse in Sweden, click here.

The implementation of the moving floor system brought about a transformation in Bjelin’s logistics operations, and the new automated loading process offered several key benefits. The system’s motorised conveyor-like slats move pallets in and out of the trailer, enabling a full trailer to be loaded or unloaded within three minutes. In addition, it now takes just one minute to secure loads using the load-securing system and only a few seconds to release them. This is a 70% reduction in the time it would have taken had Bjelin not implemented an automated loading system.

With no forklifts required during the trailer loading process, the loading bay is a safe working environment for all members of staff and visitors. Fencing has been installed around the loading docks in both the factory and the warehouse.

It also reduces environmental impact by optimising trailer space. It also optimises factory and warehouse space, as palletised goods no longer need to be stored near the loading bay doors ready to be loaded onto a returning trailer. Instead, they can be loaded onto alternate loading docks in preparation for the trailer’s return.

Loading is also now completed indoors within a sealed loading bay, meaning cold or wet weather conditions cannot interfere.

For more information, visit www.joloda.com

 
OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION
FEATURED SUPPLIERS
TWITTER FEED