Printing machine manufacturer, Koenig & Bauer Group, in Würzburg, Germany, is now using 70 new Hyster forklift trucks in its plants. An in-house guidance system enables trucks to drive around 200 different stations in the operation – from the production areas for sheet, web offset and digital printing machines, plus special machines for the production of banknotes, through to the warehouse, and from the in-house foundry up to the administration area.
“We cannot afford to make trips without loads,” said Olaf Wittmeier, transport manager at Koenig & Bauer. “Our goal is to use the right forklift truck for all in-house transport, picking up urgent shipments and delivering them to the required work station on time, as the employee will already be waiting there for the components.”
To help achieve this, the robust Hyster forklift trucks have a display in the cabin, which shows the next job directly to the driver. Intelligent software for the truck control system also calculates the optimal route and keeps the number of empty runs to a minimum.
While part of the Hyster fleet is managed by the control system, the rest of the trucks are used within the production process or for loading and unloading lorries. The range of trucks in use includes reliable Hyster P1.8AC electric powered pallet truck, the S1.6AC pedestrian stacker, both with and without the initial lift option, the P2.0SD platform double stacker truck and the S1.5S stacker with folding platform. The fleet also includes both 48V and 80V Hyster electric counterbalance forklift trucks and robust diesel Hyster forklifts, such as the H3.0FT and H5.5FT Advance.
Four-wheel electric forklift replaces standard diesel forklift truck
A number of electric forklifts with load capacities from 1.8 to 4.5 tonnes are now at the heart of the operation, including those from the Hyster J1.6-2.0XN truck series, which offer an especially small turning circle.
Forklift for indoor and outdoor use
“At our plant in Frankenthal we use Hyster J4.5XN for heavy loads,” commented Hermann Schätzlein, logistics manager for Koenig & Bauer in Würzburg. “This powerful truck not only has a lifting capacity of 4.5 tonnes but is also suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.”
Despite a low level of energy consumption, this electric forklift achieves performance comparable to a truck with an internal combustion engine. Like the Hyster J3.0XN machines in the application, these trucks have a rotatable fork clamp attachment for handling metal containers but also transport heavy components required for the printing presses.
Forklift fleet successfully modernised
Almost one year after the changeover to Hyster trucks, Hermann Schätzlein can see the benefits.
“We have succeeded in significantly reducing overall operating costs. The purchase of new, low-maintenance, Hyster equipment allowed us to reduce our use of a technician to three days, instead of the whole week,” added Schätzlein.
Hyster dealer, Jochen Kotschnereuther, CEO of Kotschenreuther Stapler- und Dystemtechnik, concluded: “Everything had to be done very quickly. The first 50 forklifts were replaced within just three months and it was a challenge for us to deliver so many machines in such a short time. In fact, in order to temporarily meet the customer’s needs, we used our company’s own rental fleet.
“However, in the end everything worked very smoothly, thanks to the professionalism of the specialists at Koenig & Bauer.”
