The zinc dip tank at the Maintal site of Verzinkerei Voigt & Schweitzer GmbH & Co KG measures an impressive 8.50 meters wide by 2.60 meters deep and 3.30 meters long. And everything that is surface-finished in it has to be collected from the customer and delivered again in distribution traffic.
Raw materials and galvanized goods are often transported as a mixed load in one tour, but must not touch each other under any circumstances. A challenge for drivers and load securing, which the Maintal-based company solves with the form-fit load securing system VarioSave from Elting Metalltechnik.
"Our cargo is so varied in terms of geometry, quantity, weight and material thickness that there are no two identical tours," says dispatcher Bernd Wörner. This includes solid parts for vehicle and container construction as well as delicate garden gates or hand-forged balcony railings. "And with every partial loading and unloading, the constellation on the loading area changes," adds Wörner. Another complicating factor is that galvanized surfaces must not come into contact with unfinished goods. Otherwise the corrosion protection suffers.
Safety systems ensure clean separation
This is why the Maintal-based company relies on the form-fit VarioSave load securing system from Elting Metalltechnik. Instead of using tension belts, the DEKRA-certified system works with solid steel stanchions and a rail system integrated into the loading area. Each rail has 70 millimeter wide stanchion pockets lined up in a row, providing a wide range of insertion options for the stanchions. This means that the load is not spanned and lashed in a force-locking manner, but is instead secured in a form-fit manner. This not only saves an enormous amount of time, it also enables a clean separation between galvanized goods and raw materials. This is because the rail grid, which is distributed across the entire loading area, allows goods to be secured at almost any point on the loading area. "We secure as the load requires - not as the attachment points for tension belts allow," explains Wörner. In the case of partial loading and unloading, the remaining load does not have to be moved and re-tied several times a day. "Simply reposition the stanchions, re-establish positive locking and you're done," says Wörner. If this is not enough, the outer frame offers a variety of attachment points for lashing straps.
"In our experience, every strap less means a time saving of around three minutes," says Wörner. "Stake insertion is simpler and more effective than opening belts, moving loads and lashing them down." On average, his drivers save five belts with the stanchion system during loading, saving a quarter of an hour at the galvanizing plant's depot. Another five to eight minutes are added on average per unloading point during delivery and return loading in distribution traffic. Four to five customers are served on each half-day tour. In daily operations with a larger radius, six to ten customers are served. "All in all, we expect the system to save at least one hour per vehicle per day - and that's a conservative estimate," explains Wörner.
Another positive effect of form-fit load securing is that it prevents damage. Loads that are susceptible to deformation, such as thin metal sheets or delicate balcony railings, quickly suffer under the lashing forces of the tensioning straps, meaning there is a risk of damage during transportation. Less lashing also means that less pressure is exerted on the material. According to Bernd Wörner, the use of form-fitting LaSi is also reflected positively in the annual complaints overview.
