Kimberly-Clark: Niederbipp, Switzerland
Harsh conditions for soft paper
Heat, humidity, dust, abrasion - producing soft, hygienic paper is tough business and having equipment that can perform continuously in this environment is crucial to maintaining productivity. The Kimberly-Clark factory in Switzerland exclusively trusts trucks supplied by Yale® dealer, Avesco. From heavy duty forklifts to platform pallet trucks, the Yale equipment onsite operates round-the-clock and continues to impress with its ergonomics and reliability.
Andreas Nussbaum is not easily impressed.
The facility manager at the Kimberly-Clark
Group operation in Niederbipp has seen
many different materials handling providers
come and go. Almost every brand has
attempted at some time to prove their worth
in the Swiss paper factory. For six years,
this producer of Kleenex® and Hakle®
hygiene products has used only Yale trucks.
In Andreas’ opinion, that’s how it should
stay, because he and the other 47 drivers
appreciate the equipment’s durability.
“The trucks are robust and there is very little
damage - that’s great for our operations
here,” says Andreas.
42,000 employees, 175 countries and
brands like Huggies® and Kleenex® make
Kimberly-Clark the world leader in hygienic
papers. At its plant in Niederbipp, in the
Swiss canton of Bern, 320 Kimberly-Clark
staff produce products primarly for the local
market. Paper production is not child’s play:
it’s hot, it’s humid, there’s dust everywhere
and production is a 24-hour a day operation.
“Our work environment places very high
demands on the vehicles in our factory,” says
Andreas. At the same time, it is necessary to
move large quantities: the paper machines
have an almost insatiable appetite for waste
paper and pulp - the two key raw materials
in paper making.
The Kimberly-Clark fleet of 23 Yale trucks
work accordingly hard: six diesel engine
forklifts, from the GDP35VX to the GDP60VX,
operate in the outside yard keeping the raw
materials flowing and five electric trucks
focus on logistics in the warehouses. They
have impressively long service lives, with the
ERP16/18 VF series trucks clocking up over
8,000 hours in five years onsite and one
GDP35VX registering 14,750 hours in just 65
months. “The trucks are used intensively,
also in terms of operating hours,” says
Andreas.
What Our Customers Are Saying
“The trucks are robust and there is very little damage - that’s great for our operations here.”
Andreas Nussbaum - Facility Manager at Kimberly-Clark, Niederbipp, Downloads