Servizi di logistica e produzione

When Freudenberg Group was building its news logistics centre in Kaiserslautern, it consciously opted for NovoEASY.
The ultra-modern approach system with sensor control for secure and efficient loading prevents the considerable damages that trucks can cause when docking. The logistics halls are equipped with the very latest in loading systems made by Novoferm. The combination of proven engineering and fresh ideas was particularly attractive to the client.

The intelligent crash protection helps by looking ahead and reliably stopping trucks before they even reach the approach buffer and thus avoiding damages to the building or vehicle. The key elements of this innovation are the electronic approach system with sensor and traffic light, an approach buffer made from a new kind of high performance plastic, and an electronic wheel chock for even more safety.

The NovoEASY approach system communicates with truck drivers in a manner that is easily understood the world over – using the colours of a traffic light. A green LED light shows which dock is ready for loading. If the traffic light changes to yellow, the truck and its loading edge are about 80 cm from the ramp. When the light changes to red, the truck is ideally positioned and the driver stops. This procedure is made possible by a special sensor in the approach buffer that continuously measures the distance to the truck.

Free to go
The wheel chock is a key safety element in the new approach system. The loading ramp cannot be operated until the chock is engaged with the wheel and the truck is reliably secured against accidentally rolling away.

These simple and clearly structured workflows make truck docking a much easier process while avoiding damages and improving health & safety overall. Ultimately, the particular advantages of NovoEASY are visible in Kaiserslautern not just in the harsh everyday loading traffic but also on the financial side of operations. The new electronic approach system combined with the high performance buffers sustainably improves the cost efficiency of logistics facilities.

With loading system components that are ideally matched to each other, Novoferm was able to offer a customized solution to this client.

Mid-sized, fast decision making processes but with an international network – in short: maximum flexibility is characteristic of BTG-Feldberg & Sohn freight forwarders. The same holds true for their new 6,000 m² distribution hub in Bocholt.

The loading technology requirements in this facility – where consumer, industrial and hazardous goods are moved through 74 dock levellers from morning to evening – are particularly strict. With the aid of Novoferm, BTG has found a solution that perfectly matches its requirements …

Transshipment halls at freight forwarding companies are a special kind of hub where virtually everything classified as goods is moved. Accordingly, one of the key requirements is the ability to load even the most sensitive consignments without damaging them.

This challenge is resolved by NovoDock L 500i hydraulic loading ramps. They can be infinitely adjusted to fit and the platform and lip (when fully extended) form a flush surface with no sills or edges to trip over. Which not only protects the merchandise being moved over the ramps, but also the transport vehicles.

Hermes’ new 12,000 m² distribution centre is equipped with a total of 303 swap-body parking spaces and processes more than 50 million shipments per year. All 114 parking spaces with doors were equipped by Novoferm with sectional doors and electro-hydraulic loading ramps.

Execution of such a major project requires excellent and in-depth consulting. Hermes has been working with Novoferm for more than ten years.

As a transshipment centre that operates around the clock, this project required exceptional expertise when it came to functional performance and reliability. Just for Hermes, Novoferm developed door seals with separate aprons to ensure complete and utter protection against the wet of the computerized sorting technology on the inside.

Another special feature are the steel buffers with 10 cm foam core, which were developed specifically to protect the building and which Hermes now uses at all its properties. The entire project was designed specifically to suit Hermes’ needs, and even extended to door colours that match Hermes’ CI.

Building specification
Sunfilm AG, owner of the modern building complex, uses a completely new technology to generate solar power. Special tandem junction technology is used to manufacture high performance, large scale, thin film solar modules in the newly built factory.

The specification for the building concept was to design a dynamic architecture that reflected the company’s philosophy. On the technical side, maximum security in all building sections and at all production levels was the paramount requirement.

Design
The design of the new factory was entrusted to IB Vogt GmbH Berlin in cooperation with IPRO Planungs- und Ingenieur-AG in Dresden. The planning and execution brief covered production buildings including office space, with a total floor area of 22,000 m². Since 2009 the site has been producing the very latest photovoltaic modules with an annual total capacity of 60 MW. The systems require about 180 members of staff for 24 hour operation.

The resulting building complex is ultra-modern with a striking design, especially of the façades. The production hall is single storey with cellar space beneath some of it, while the administration including social areas is incorporated into the overall concept in a two-storey building. The total floor space of the factory exceeds 22,000 m²; more than 208,000 m³ were enclosed.

Novoferm Riexinger was awarded the contract for the fire resistant and multipurpose steel doors not least because of their exceptional quality standards and customized product range. The fact that they were able to use mostly standard models to satisfy the strict requirements of the planners and property owner shows just how clever the designs of Novoferm Riexinger are. A selection of fire resistant, multipurpose and transformer room doors were installed throughout the property to match the site and specific requirements.

Transformer doors
Transformer doors of all sorts of sizes and with the widest range of different features were needed to cope with the high level energy turnover. By combining multipurpose steel doors with precision-fitted ventilation louvres in the door panels and fitting large ventilation louvres above and beside the doors, the manufacturing and subsequent installation processes were utterly simple. The modular products offered by Novoferm Riexinger also include galvanized insect screens, which are mounted behind the ventilation louvres.

Equally important:
Design and functional performance. Key reasons for awarding the contract to Novoferm Riexinger – apart from the company’s project expertise – included the product design and the addition of customized features to ensure the seals were exactly compliant with the structural requirements. These included modern fire protection and building security systems that allow the complex to be divided into different sections, with corresponding access authorization.

Volvo Construction Equipment manufactures diggers and wheel loaders in Konz. As part of its continuous improvement process, the manufacturer of construction equipment worked closely with Novoferm to replace 45 doors within and leading out of its halls in three stages.

A modernization project that required not just precision planning beforehand, but also the customized adaptation of each individual door to the internal logistics processes and structural conditions.

In the third stage, Volvo Construction Equipment replaced a total of 16 combinations of folding door with inside plastic roller shutter that were no longer fit for purpose, mainly with NovoSpeed Alu rapid roll doors made by Novoferm.

It was primarily the design approach of the doors that convinced the client:
NovoSpeed Alu rapid roll doors unite the mechanical stability of an aluminium roller shutter in terms of wind load and burglar resistance with the high speeds usually only associated with PVC roll doors. Further key factors that convinced Volvo Construction Equipment were the precision fit production and striking design of the doors with numerous transparent light strips.