High maintenance and personnel costs, rising fuel prices, noise pollution, little flexibility and a high risk potential - the question of how efficient the use of industrial trucks, such as forklift trucks, actually is in industrial companies is becoming increasingly important. With integrated conveyor systems for fully automated material flow, the Sauerland-based conveyor technology manufacturer HaRo Anlagen- und Fördertechnik offers numerous alternatives to offset the disadvantages of forklift trucks with cost and efficiency benefits. The Austrian flooring manufacturer Tilo also took advantage of this when it replaced its forklift trucks on the factory premises for transportation from production to the warehouse with an underground pallet conveyor system.

Pallet conveyor system in the tunnel

Founded in 1950 as a joinery in Lohnsburg in Upper Austria, Tilo has since established itself as an internationally active family business. In 1950, Gustav Schrattenecker laid the foundations for the company's current success with one apprentice and a planing machine in a small workshop of around 100 square meters. Over the 70 years that followed, not only did the product portfolio grow to include profile and skirting boards as well as patented parquet flooring, but the production area was also continuously expanded. Increasing capacity utilization required a rethink of internal processes; in the last three years in particular, Tilo has focused on digitalization and state-of-the-art technology. This also includes the installation of an underground tunnel to link two halls and reduce forklift traffic on the factory premises. Tilo approached the Rüthen-based HaRo Group with this request and specified its requirements: A conveyor system was to automatically transport the pallets from the production hall to the warehouse; the road in between was not to be affected. The conveyor technology manufacturer from the Sauerland region convinced its customer with a customized concept that included a pallet conveyor system in an underground tunnel.

Transport below ground level was not the only special feature of the project: at 3 meters long and 1.20 meters wide, Tilo uses special pallets weighing up to two tons in addition to the standard Euro pallets. In addition, the height difference between the production hall in the basement and the warehouse at ground level had to be overcome. For these specifications, the HaRo team worked with Tilo to develop a concept consisting of just three main components: powered roller conveyors, a vertical conveyor and a rotating platform.

Details of the automated material flow

In the production hall, the goods are initially fed manually in the form of special pallets or Euro pallets. Two Euro pallets or one special pallet at a time are transported in a block accumulation process over the approximately 55