On 29 December 2006 it set a new record for the tonnage of paper loaded out in one day with 2,774 tonnes.
UPM group’s sales in 2005 were nearly 9.3 billion euros. It has 30,000 employees. UPM’s main products include printing papers, converting materials and wood products. The company has production plants in 16 countries and its main market areas are Europe and North America.
The company currently operates six Linde 39X engine powered hydrostatic counterbalance trucks with capacities ranging from 2.5 to 5.0 tonnes and also two T 30 pedestrian powered trucks adapted to transport paper reels.
Following the success of these trucks, it has placed a further order for the Linde H 150 D hydrostatic transmission, 15 tonne heavy duty truck to be fitted with multi-reel handling attachment and also a model T 18 powered pallet truck.
The 39X trucks are fitted with intelligent paper roll clamps to ensure minimum pressure is exerted on the paper reels, which can weigh up to one tonne.
Customer supply controller Andrew Holt, says: “We felt it was important to ensure our operators were involved in the decision-making process and John Davies [Linde Sterling’s area sales manager] was able to provide us with the opportunity to see the trucks operate in a similar environment and to demonstrate their reliability.”
Davies spent time with the UPM team to establish an understanding of its materials handling needs. The site currently operates 24/7, 365 days of the year and the equipment is running over two shifts from 6am until 10pm.
UPM has seen reductions in downtime and fuel consumption and the on-site medical centre has reported a reduction in back pain complaints demonstrating the ergonomics of the trucks.
“Since taking delivery of the new trucks, we have changed our materials handling process,” says Holt. “We have been able to reduce the checking and loading of goods into the lorries to one person instead of two.”
UPM Shotton is investing in a new project that will revolutionise the way in which paper reels are transported using an automatic discharge trailer where the Linde trucks will play a predominant role in the success of that project.
“Improving the efficiencies of the customer supply centre is vital to ensure that goods are distributed to our customers quickly; and with Linde we can confidently achieve just that,” says Holt.
