Car-O-Liner Replaced forklift trucks with Movexx tugs

More and more companies are moving away from forklift trucks for handling internal materials for safety reasons.

Since the spring of 2019, Car-O-Liner at Kungsör has carried out a lot of its heavy transport using Movexx T6000 tugs from EdmoLift – and is very pleased with the result.

–The tugs give us a completely new concept for internal transport. We have got a much safer working environment, but also more efficient and customised transport, says Car-O-Liner’s production manager, Peter Hedenström.

Car-O-Liner develops and manufactures systems for repair and inspection of vehicles damaged in collisions. For more than 45 years, the company has provided the automotive industry with innovative solutions and is currently the leading market player, with customers across much of the world. In 2016, the company was acquired by the huge American toolmaker Snap-On and a comprehensive project was started to make the company more efficient at all of their units.

Wanted to reduce the risk of accidents in the workplace

At the facility in Kungsör, where they mainly work with manufacturing, the focus quickly turned to the heavy material transports. A lot of the work of moving and transporting materials was performed using forklift trucks, even indoors.

–We wanted to get away from using the forklift trucks indoors in order to reduce the risk of accidents and so we began to look at the options. We wanted to check out tugs and this is how we got into contact with EdmoLift, who offered us a test.

Car-O-Liner quite simply borrowed a Movexx tug and tried it out for a couple of weeks on the heavy indoor transports that were previously carried out with forklift trucks.

The requirements were high because the tug had to manage loads of around five tons while remaining safe and easy to manage inside the facility where there were differences in levels in the various departments.

EdmoLift's solution proved to be the right one

The test was successful, and Car-O-Liner finally decided on two of the largest models of tugs, the T6000, with a capacity of 6 tonnes. Today, the tugs are the only means of transport in the process in which the company’s huge jig benches are produced.

–Pretty soon, we developed our way of working by hooking on more trolleys and building a train with all of the parts that are needed for assembly, everything from the several-tons platform to smaller parts and accessories. Everything can be found on the “milk round”, as we call the train. In addition, everything is in the right place when the “milk round” comes, so we have reduced unnecessary lifts and we don’t have to move parts. The whole flow is much more suitable today, says Peter Hedenström.

The trend of using tugs within industries are quickly increasing

EdmoLift’s salesperson Niklas Fällström thinks that Car-OLiner is a great example of how a company can work with tugs to improve its materials handling.

–A very drastic change is taking place here, and not just in Sweden. Many multinational companies have taken strategic decisions to remove all forklift trucks indoors and the Car-O-Liner example shows that tugs cannot just replace forklift trucks in many environments but can also contribute to a more efficient way of working.

In addition to increased safety and the opportunity to make the flow more efficient, Niklas Fällström points out several other advantages with the tugs:

• It doesn’t require a forklift truck driver licence.
• It is cheaper - often a lot cheaper - than a forklift truck.
• It requires unbelievably little maintenance.

The electrically powered Movexx tugs also run for a long time on one charge, and they charge quickly. If you have a three-shift system, it is completely sufficient to let the tug charge overnight.

The move from forklift trucks to tugs was very successful for Car-O-Liner and production manager Peter Hedenström can see significant opportunities to also use tugs for other tasks at Kungsör.

–What we have done now is just the beginning. Our goal is to remove all forklift transport indoors and we have many materials that are transported at the facility today: cardboard, wood chips, containers - in the long term, all of them will get tugs. The possibilities are endless!