Strict safety regulations apply in the warehouse of automotive supplier Federal-Mogul EMEA Distribution Services (BVBA). Every day, forklift trucks are used in the narrow aisles to transport pallets of ready-to-ship items from their storage location to the goods issue area. Crown's industrial trucks cover a distance right across the area. As numerous employees are working in the narrow-aisle warehouse at the same time, the risk of accidents is high.

To protect man and machine, the company has worked with Crown to equip its forklift truck fleet with the Eloprotect personal protection system from Elokon. It supports the drivers and is designed to ensure the highest standards of protection. The system is designed to brake the vehicle if it detects obstacles in the direction of travel, thus preventing accidents.

Personnel protection system for greater safety in the warehouse
At its site in Willebroek near Antwerp, Belgium, the globally active automotive supplier stores goods for manufacturers of automotive, light commercial, heavy-duty and off-highway vehicles as well as for the power generation, aerospace, shipping, rail and industrial sectors. The narrow-aisle warehouse installed there is characterized by high racks with small storage areas. However, the forklift trucks working in them can pose a risk because, due to their size and width, they fill the narrow aisle to such an extent that pedestrians can no longer get past them.

If the safety distance between the vehicle and the rack is less than half a meter, it is no longer possible for people to avoid the industrial truck in the aisle. Furthermore, if the cab is at the top to retrieve something from the rack, the driver cannot see any people or objects directly in front of the vehicle.

Eloprotect is therefore designed to mitigate the potential danger of collisions between people and machinery. Such safety systems are required by law in Germany, Austria and Switzerland if the required minimum distance of 0.5 meters between the racking and the vehicle is not met.

Forklift truck in narrow-aisle use with active personnel protection system. © Elocon

When a forklift truck enters an aisle, Eloprotect is automatically activated and monitors the danger zone in the direction of travel during operation. If the vehicle is stationary, the system monitors both directions of travel. As soon as a person is detected in the aisle, Eloprotect automatically reduces the speed of the forklift truck to walking speed. If the pedestrian continues to walk towards the vehicle, the forklift truck comes to a complete stop. In this way, the system ensures the best possible personal protection.

Customized modules
Eloprotect has been equipped with additional functions specifically for Federal-Mogul's requirements: The additional KR module (creep speed with covered laser scanner on the load side) automatically activates creep speed of 2.5 kilometers per hour if the forks or cab are only just above the ground and the scanners are therefore covered.

The comfort activation/deactivation module (KAD) also enables automatic activation or deactivation of the safety fields at the end of an aisle. KAD activates the safety function as early as seven meters before the aisle exit. Normally, the safety distance is 15 meters. Reducing the distance is necessary because the personnel protection system would otherwise recognize an object as a hazard in the extra-wide Federal-Mogul transfer aisle when the forklift approaches the end of an aisle. In this way, KAD avoids unnecessary intervention and takes the strain off the driver.

Forklift truck manufacturer Crown has also added additional functions to its vehicles that harmonize with the Eloprotect system: End-Of-Aisle-Control (EAC) automatically reduces the speed at the end of an aisle and is activated simultaneously with KAD. The Stop function ensures that vehicles stop automatically at the end of an aisle, with the fields deactivated by the KAD module.

Mixed fleet standardized
Different forklift models are used in the Federal-Mogul warehouse: The fleet consists of TSP narrow-aisle forklifts and SP order pickers from Crown. Both have been equipped with safety systems from Elokon. The automatic laser scanner system is particularly suitable for the use of mixed fleets with free-moving and narrow-aisle forklifts - as is the case in the automotive supplier's warehouse. as