Harsh conditions for soft paper - Yale

Kimberly-Clark is a world leader in hygienic papers. The company’s plant in Niederbipp, Switzerland, runs a 24-hour a day operation with the hot, humid, dusty conditions placing high demands on the materials handling equipment.
The Kimberly-Clark fleet consists of 23 Yale trucks, supported by local Yale dealer Avesco.
Avesco and Yale were able to tailor the equipment to Kimberly-Clark’s specific requirements, with the client singing the praises of the Yale equipment.

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.

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 primarily 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 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.

Senior management at Kimberly-Clark appreciated how Avesco and Yale were able to tailor the equipment to their specific requirements. For example, the exhaust after-treatment systems on the diesel trucks have been fitted with a heat protection foil to avert fire hazards and hydraulics and water cooling systems have extra coolers to cope with the heavy-duty operation. Two electric forklifts are fitted with bale clamps and one heavy-duty forklift even has shears to cut the wire on waste paper bales. “‘Not possible’ is not part of the dealer’s vocabulary, which we think is very good,” states Andreas.

In April 2018 Kimberly-Clark and Avesco celebrated a milestone in their partnership. After five and a half years of the ongoing rental agreement, Avesco delivered 13 new trucks. To mark the occasion, Avesco presented Kimberly-Clark with a symbolic key, artfully woven by a local baker. Admittedly, this edible key is one delivery which – unlike all other Avesco supplies – won’t last long onsite.