Lech-Stahl Veredelung GmbH was founded in 2012 as a merger of the long-established bright steel companies Lech-Stahl Veredelung in Oberndorf and Stahlveredelung Landsberg. Both companies had decades of experience in the production and refinement of bright steel. In addition to the production sites in Landsberg and Oberndorf, LSV opened a third production site in Meitingen in 2019. Here, steel is manufactured in various finishing and processing stages on a production area of around 10,000 square meters.

Internal load transportation is particularly important for LSV: the provision of blanks and parts to be machined in production as well as the storage of finished parts. Undercarriages, which are transported by platform trucks, serve as the interface between logistics and production and vice versa in Meitingen. Originally, the payload of these racks was 30 tons. In order to make the material flow even more efficient, LSV wanted to increase the load to 40 tons while keeping the dimensions of the racks the same. This increased the demands on the platform trucks. A vehicle was needed that could lift the racks and payload by 100 millimetres with a low underride height of just 560 millimetres in order to be able to move them.

Developed in collaboration with the user

In Dimos, LSV found the right technology partner for the development of a platform truck that allows loads to be increased while the dimensions of the undercarriage remain the same. The Hessian mechanical engineering company has been designing industrial trucks according to individual customer requirements for around 30 years and manufactures exclusively in small series. The aim is to develop vehicles that prove their worth in every area of use at the customer's premises, offer advantages to everyone involved and are easy to handle. To this end, all relevant people on the customer side are involved in the design and construction of a vehicle, from logistics management to procurement and the subsequent operators. This was also the case with the platform truck for LSV, as Plant Manager Robert Sandner emphasizes: "Dimos worked very closely with us throughout the entire project and examined every detail in detail."

In addition to close coordination with the future user and detailed requirements analysis, Dimos' technical expertise, which has grown over decades, contributes in particular to optimum vehicle development. The machine manufacturer cushions the high loads caused by handling heavy goods with sophisticated components and a well-coordinated design: The platform truck is robust, resistant to wear and tear and scores with low service requirements and low maintenance costs. If a service or battery change is nevertheless required, this can be carried out quickly and easily thanks to the vehicle's modular design. "As with all our vehicles, the design of the platform truck is based on a modular system. This allows us to offer LSV the greatest possible flexibility and ease of servicing," explains Pascal Schütz, responsible for sales and development at Dimos.

Energy-efficient thanks to all-electric drive

In addition to robustness and good maintenance accessibility, a modern solution is characterized in particular by optimal energy management. LSV was therefore looking for an energy-efficient solution. Dimos was able to fulfill this wish with its powerful, purely electric drive concept: Thanks to its low battery and energy consumption, the maintenance requirements for the platform truck are very low, whereas the operating times are particularly long. Hydrostatic drives, on the other hand, which are still the norm in standard systems on the market, have a significantly lower energy yield due to their low efficiency. Another advantage of the all-electric solution is that it is emission-free. Compared to diesel-powered vehicles, the platform truck is therefore more environmentally friendly, more cost-effective in the long term and contributes to a more pleasant working environment.

Lifting system above the market standard

Further advantages result from the innovative design of the chassis and the lifting system. Unlike conventional solutions, the lifting system is located in the frame and not on the chassis. The reason: if the lift is implemented via the running gear, both the lifting gear and the running gear are subjected to very high loads, which leads to leaks and breakdowns in the medium term. The fact that Dimos has implemented both systems separately from each other means that there is significantly less wear on the running gear. "One of the strengths of our platform trailer is its robustness. This can be attributed not least to our innovative lifting system. We thus offer LSV a vehicle that reliably contributes to optimizing the material flow in the long term," says Schütz.