The factory of the future will largely organize itself. And works fully automatically wherever possible. Forklift trucks moving through the aisles and transporting pallets no longer fit into the picture. The risk of accidents is too great, their use with one driver at a time too costly and too ineffective - with up to 50 percent empty runs. As a result, those responsible for production processes and occupational safety are increasingly pushing for new solutions. This is also the case at a major German car manufacturer. In its first plants, the company intends to transport even the heaviest loads fork-free in the near future.

Grown status quo

The status quo still corresponds to the procedure that has been in place for decades: Forklift trucks bring the material, for example entire side panels for large limousines, from the warehouse to the production line. Each forklift truck carries several side panels in an oversized container - weighing up to two and a half tons, around three and a half meters long and one and a half meters wide. This type of transportation has long been a thorn in the side of the plant's safety officers. In their opinion, the transported goods are not sufficiently secured and the containers lying crosswise on the forklift represent a permanent safety risk during the journey due to their overhang. Because the forks of the forklift are too short, it is not possible to load along the direction of travel.

Production managers also see potential for optimization; after all, every forklift truck needs an operator who does nothing else but drive the truck. And all too often the forklift trucks are empty, which costs time and money. So the search began for a better solution. They have now found one. It is called C-Frame and comes from the metal processing company CSP, based in Pfronstetten, Swabia. The C, by the way, stands for the C-shape of the new transport and lifting system. CSP has been a supplier to the automotive industry and other manufacturing companies for many years. This is because the team led by Managing Directors Katrin and Harald Späth supplies reliable, sophisticated and robust special machines and systems for in-house logistics - according to the Swabians' customers.

How does the container get onto the C-Frame?

The main requirement was that the system should be able to transport the containers lengthways. This could definitely be achieved with the C-Frame. However, the question arose: How does the container get onto the transport system - and back down again? The engineers at CSP quickly rejected the idea of a forklift taking over this task. Firstly, the whole thing was supposed to work without a forklift, and secondly, this would again require two drivers: one for the forklift, the other for transporting the container from the warehouse to the production line.

The task was therefore to develop a solution in which the transport vehicle could pick up and set down the container on its own. To do this, the developers first equipped the tractor with a laser pointer. Katharina Müller, project manager at CSP, explains: "The laser pointer helps the driver to approach the container precisely on its long side." The C-Frame extends over the three and a half meter length of the container by around 35 centimetres on both sides. In the next step, the lifting unit of the C-Frame lowers to its lower position. The lifting unit consists of a cross slide on which two telescopic forks are mounted. First, the cross slide moves from the rear edge of the C-Frame to the front edge close to the load carrier. Then the telescopic forks extend until they are positioned under the container. The forks lift up again, pick up the load carrier and raise it to a height of around 35 centimetres.

Safe transportation

The cross-pusher and telescopic fork then move back again and set the container down on the C-frame. "It was important to us not to transport the two tons that a full container weighs on the forks, but directly on the C-frame. For safety and space reasons, as it is also important to keep the container's overhang as small as possible during transportation." During the pick-up process, supports are extended to ensure that the load and C-frame are stable and do not tip over. The entire procedure takes barely more than a minute and is controlled by the tractor driver via a touch display.