The global packaging and paper specialist Mondi in Bad Rappenau has installed steel rack constructions almost 16 meters high - fully loaded with a wide variety of packaging solutions. High-quality printed corrugated cardboard packaging for the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is produced here. This includes all process steps on the way from the raw material to the finished packaging: production of the corrugated cardboard, high-quality and customized printing, die-cutting, gluing, loading onto Euro pallets and preparation for dispatch. Production and logistics work in a three-shift operation with seven and a half hours per shift. In addition to the high handling capacity, the focus is also on the maximum reliability of the warehouse equipment and forklifts.

In recent years, Mondi has gradually converted its logistics fleet to Linde. It began in 2013 with a Linde H80 LPG forklift with a load capacity of eight tons in the incoming goods area, equipped with a special clamp for paper rolls weighing up to 2.8 tons. They are stacked up to seven meters high in the roll warehouse - equipment with a correspondingly high counterweight is required here. After a short familiarization phase with the hydrostatic drive with double pedal control, the Mondi logistics staff were impressed - especially as reversing is much easier by hand or foot.

While Linde was the preferred choice for material delivery from this point onwards, other narrow-aisle trucks were still rolling through the aisles of the high-bay warehouse. The customer-oriented service, combined with the positive experience with the Linde H80, convinced Mondi to now also consider Linde's narrow-aisle solutions. Together with Hofmann Fördertechnik, Mondi visited a reference company and saw the Linde narrow aisle equipment live in action.

Among other things, they ensure smooth processes behind the gates of Mondi's high-bay warehouse in Bad Rappenau: vehicle driver Gerhard Doberstein and logistics manager Cindy Bächle. (Photo: Linde)

What is most important when working at heights of up to 16 meters is the stability of the mast. This is where the Linde K-series machines scored highly in comparison to the competition. The masts of the Linde trucks sway significantly less, which makes the drivers' work easier and safer. Because the equipment from the Aschaffenburg-based goods handling specialist also delivered a convincing performance in other important disciplines - from ergonomics and economy to service and maintenance - it quickly became clear to the Mondi decision-makers that the color red would also dominate the narrow aisle from now on.

Since 2015, Mondi has been operating two roller-guided K-series trucks in the narrow aisles - in addition to various other Linde warehouse technology solutions and forklifts that have since been added. An additional H70 LPG forklift with a load capacity of seven tons supports the processes in the incoming goods area. The majority of actual production at Mondi, however, is carried out without forklift trucks: the company relies on conveyor belts to transport the raw materials to the various processing stations. Only when the packed Euro pallets are moved from production to the high-bay warehouse are two H18 T LPG forklifts with a load capacity of 1.8 tons used again; then the two K trucks take over the pallet handling. In the background, a fully implemented SAP system, which regulates all production and logistics processes at Mondi, determines the rack location to which a goods carrier delivered from production is to be moved. The operator scans a barcode on the pallets from the narrow-aisle device, which the 1.8-ton forklift truck from production provides here. He then receives the relevant information on the rack row, bay and level on the additional display in the vehicle. Here he can also see which pallet is to be removed from the rack for dispatch.

Mondi moves around 1,500 packed pallets per day; the main loading time is between six in the morning and eight in the evening. The Linde fleet at Mondi is completed by an L10 electric high lift truck and four T18 low lift trucks. Hofmann Fördertechnik is on hand whenever the equipment needs servicing or repair. Mondi is extremely satisfied with the overall package and the partnership-based implementation of the logistics concept. pb