Furniture industry and cranes
Potential
The furniture industry is an important part of the Polish economy. It is estimated that more than 160 000 workers are employed in this sector. According to the Polish Development Fund in 2017, Poland became the third furniture exporter in the European Union, placing itself on this proud place just behind Germany and Italy.
The Polish Investment and Trade Agency in the industry review points out that in 2019, in less than two consecutive years, our country was already the first exporter on the European market and the second in the world. And although for known reasons black clouds also hung over this branch of the economy, we look with great optimism at the future of Polish furniture.
The job of entrepreneurs is to produce good quality and priced products, but in order to do so it takes more than the best raw material. There is a need for efficient work and the best solutions for internal transport. Why? Because the company is people – and they need help.
Many companies are consciously addressing the subject of improving the safety of their employees’ work. This is where cranes play their huge role. Such devices improve production processes and intralogistics in the furniture industry.
For some time, equipment such as vacuum lifts and scissor lift tables have enjoyed the greatest interest in the furniture industry. It is no different with individual solutions of lifting and pallet trucks.
Projects already implemented are the best confirmation of this. Only this year, the PS Lift team has completed some really interesting custom implementations, improving work in large companies that are already leading the furniture market.
Case Study: The market leader for interior fittings
Only this year, the client decided to implement two separate projects.
The first investment in 20 flat scissor lift tables, with a load capacity of 1,000 kg each, allowed to improve the final stage of the production chain.
Each of the flat lift tables was mounted right next to the tape transporting cardboard packaging to furniture. This setting allows ergonomically to transfer the detail from the pallet on the lift table to the carton on the technological line. The whole process takes place without overloading the muscles, and therefore the workstation has been optimised.
All platforms are equipped with protective bellows. The working scissors are completely covered by safety and additional protection for both the lifting and lowering platform, thus providing additional protection for the worker.
The next project, which was carried out in the second branch of the company, was the delivery and assembly of two lifts vacuum on the existing stationary jib cranes. Installing vacuum devices proved to be the best solution for handling plastic and wooden pallets.
The suction cups are equipped with numerous holes protected by special balls. This type of suction cups applies to materials with slits, such as Europallets. At the point of contact of the suction cup with a pallet, the ball floats opening the hole. This allows the cargo to be sucked. The lack of contact with the hard surface causes the balls to clogging holes in the suction cup preventing the pressure from falling in the device.
Both plastic pallets weighing up to 23 kg and wooden pallets weighing up to 37 kg are lifted. The returning pallet stack is unloaded using lifts. Each pallet is removed from the stack and placed on a roller conveyor.
Case study2: Manufacturer of furniture and stairs
The company that manufactures high quality furniture and stairs with our help optimised the warehouse’s workstation, which is responsible for packing and shipping finished products.
To improve his work, a stationary crane with an ERGO PLUS lift was mounted. The device raises the load with a load capacity of 30 kg.
The cartons are packed with wooden furniture elements that the final customer must submit. Loading this type of wide and bulky cartons was troublesome. The use of a crane with a vacuum lift greatly accelerated the operation, thus increasing the efficiency of the entire company.
Case study3: Leader of the floor panels and board industry for furniture production
A completely different solution turned out to be needed for the company that manufactures floor panels and materials for furniture, i.e. chipboards, MDFs or kitchen countertops.
The company was equipped with a specially designed electric lifting trolley, which was additionally fitted with a camera.
The camera was mounted on the pin to precisely apply a large roll of film.
Such a solution in particular facilitates the harvesting of rolls which are stacked on each other.
Thanks to the camera, the operator takes without problem all reels, also those that are arranged above the employee’s eyesight at about 1.8 metres.
Thanks to accurate visibility, the operator easily introduces the spindle into the hole, and further raises, transports and inserts it into the machine. Moreover, by manipulating the reel itself, the roller can change its position by 90 degrees. And so, when the spool is removed, the spindle is kept vertically while being inserted into the machine, the operator turns the pin 90 degrees to the horizontal position.
Wide offer
It is worth noting that the furniture industry also uses other crane solutions.
For example, long pallet trucks are very popular. Their two-meter pitchforks allow to handle custom pallets, so often used in this industry.
HUZAR pallet trucks are available in our warehouse in stock!
Electric pallet trucks with larger lifting loads are also often used. They are mainly used to unload and load vans. Ergonomic drawbars and large loads allow the operator to easily handle large, bulky loads – boards, boards, boxes with packed goods, and many more.
In addition, two-scissor lift tables are also checked. Large plates or other workpieces shall not be exposed beyond the outline of the platform. The use of large platforms in cranes eliminates this problem and the entire manipulated load is safely arranged on the platform construction.
The possibility of options such as cutting scissors, protective bellows and other types of safety features is another advantage of scissor lift tables!
The wood and furniture sector often also uses light crane systems with installed vacuum lifts. Typically, part of the production line thus built allows operators to operate more workplaces. Thanks to lifters, workers can manipulate discs, glass or even process softer components coming off the production tape.
Regardless of the cargo to be transported, the crane industry offers a wide range of options. Raise glass, panels, panels, cardboards, pallets, hardware elements, upholstery materials – everything that is so common in the furniture sector.
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