From the tugger train to the production line

With a market share of more than 20 percent, BSH Hausgeräte is the leading supplier of household appliances in Western Europe. Founded in 1967 as a joint venture between Bosch and Siemens, BSH has been a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bosch Group since 2015. The manufacturer now has 38 production sites - including one in Nauen, Brandenburg. The plant mainly specializes in the production and assembly of washing machines. Around 600,000 units per year are delivered from here all over the world.

BSH obtains the heavy lye containers, the heart of every washing drum, prefabricated from a supplier. In the past, trucks and forklift trucks were used to transport the components to the production line. However, the very limited space in the production hall posed a problem: Maneuvering the pallets with the containers through the narrow aisles took a lot of time and nerves. Manual handling was also out of the question due to the heavy weight of the drums. BSH therefore decided to set up a tugger train system between its own production facility and the supplier's nearby plant.

Drive the last few meters independently

The tugger train is equipped with individual trolleys, each of which can hold a pallet of lye containers. Each trolley is equipped with two fixed and four swivel castors so that it can independently cover the last few meters from the tugger train to the production line. But that's not all: an electric drive system integrated into the fixed castors ensures that BSH employees do not have to laboriously move the trolleys, which can weigh up to 450 kilograms, using muscle power. The ErgoMove 1000 system, like the castors, is made by Blickle.

With ErgoMove, the wheel and castor specialist has developed a solution with which even heavy loads can be transported in the truest sense of the word in the blink of an eye. A handle with integrated sensors intuitively recognizes the operator's direction of travel and automatically controls the electrically operated drive rollers. Thanks to the integrated counter-current brake, there is also no need to apply force to brake the trolleys. This reduces the physical strain on employees to a minimum and thus prevents musculoskeletal disorders, which can lead to longer periods of incapacity for work. The ErgoMove 1000 is suitable for loads of up to 1,000 kilograms and speeds of up to four kilometers per hour.

Installation of the electric drive system is extremely simple thanks to "plug and play". Thanks to the ErgoMove, BSH employees can now maneuver the heavy trolleys effortlessly, even through tight spaces. The result is a much more ergonomic workflow - and also greater efficiency: the household appliance manufacturer can load the trolleys of the tugger train with more parts and still have less work to do, as they can be moved by one employee alone. Safety is also guaranteed by the system without the need for further precautions on the trolley. For example, the integrated electromechanical dead man's brakes prevent the trolley from rolling away without authorization and allow it to stop immediately in dangerous situations.

Those responsible at BSH are satisfied with the collaboration. "The ErgoMove not only offers an ergonomic solution for our application, but also enables us to maneuver the trolleys in confined spaces thanks to its intelligent force sensor technology and impresses with its simple plug-and-play installation," reports logistics planner David Pirschel. Another plus point: the service provided by the wheel and trolley experts. Even after the sale, Blickle engineers continue to support BSH in further optimizing the use of the electric drive system in order to work even more ergonomically and efficiently.