No inconvenience during processing and at least 2.5 times as durable
In 2017, logistics service provider Hollander had a series of line marking trials carried out with various coatings and application methods at its food distribution centre in Barendrecht.
From here, the subsidiary of The Greenery distributes (semi) fresh products to more than 270 PLUS supermarkets in the Netherlands. After five months of intensive use in daily practice, most of the lines had more or less disappeared. Except for SolidLux. In the following two years, facility manager Maurice Lutgens had more than nine kilometres of lines applied with the innovative SolidLux UV coatings. Since then, this has saved him a lot of worries. Even after years, the lines are still as safe and functional as ever.
Application benefits and longer life span
“Experience has shown that lines with a traditional coating system must be replaced at least once every two years. Not so with the SolidLux lines: they are still in good condition after four or five years,” says Lutgens. “If there is any damage at all, it is mainly due to mechanical causes, such as a nail on the bottom of a shifted pallet. The SolidLux lines suffer remarkably little from the continuous stress caused by forklifts, reach trucks, hand pallet trucks and roll containers. And that is a surprisingly high added value. Because although SolidLux scored best on wear resistance at the time, it was mainly the application advantages that were the deciding factor in opting for this system.”
Health & Safety and HACCP regulations
Hollander processes about 1.6 to 1.8 million parcels per week and approximately 1,000 trips leave the 10 docks to the PLUS supermarkets in the Netherlands. Overall, some 430,000 order picks per day. Mainly fresh products: fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat. The halls are divided into three temperature zones, varying from 4° C to a maximum of 15° C. This makes for challenging circumstances when it comes to maintenance planning. Lutgens: “Try to find a solution that doesn’t disrupt business processes, fits in with the strict working conditions and HACCP regulations and can also be processed at low temperatures. We found it at a trade fair where the then still fairly new SolidLux technology with UV lighting was demonstrated. It almost seemed too good to be true, but after the tests in our warehouse, we were convinced. The usual way of applying lines may seem quicker and cheaper, but in the end, we are demonstrably better off with SolidLux: practically no disruption to our processes, no costly emergency measures or evacuation of warehouses, no odour nuisance and on top of that a considerably longer life span. Now, do the math.”
Smart planning, no delays
It is now January 2022. In addition to the usual December hectic, the corona lockdown last year added a bit on top: it led to extra activity at the supermarkets. “It was all hands on deck”, says Lutgens, who was also fully involved in order picking to get all the deliveries out. “We had to widen the racks in order to be able to store all the pallets, and that also has consequences for the floor line marking. By now, an application team is working on the application of new walkways and line marking is also applied in a new part of the warehouse. No problem, it can be done in between jobs. In an earlier extension of a warehouse, we thought that we could manage with two-component line marking, because this part was not yet in use. We soon changed our mind: the smell travelled to other parts of the hall and some employees were really troubled by it. So, we would rather have a few less metres per day. With smart planning, the application team ensures that our work can continue as usual. Preparation takes up the most time, but once applied and after exposure with the UV lamp, the job is immediately finished and ready to use. Even with a heavily loaded reach truck you can drive right over it.
System and working method
The working method at Hollander is as follows: the new lines are marked out on the monolithic concrete floor and the surface is machine dust-free blasted. Then a primer coat of SolidLux Basecoat is applied. One of the applicators rolls the paint and is literally followed by a colleague with the portable UV lamp; the coating is then immediately cured. This means that the finishing coat with SolidLux Topcoat type 800 can be applied directly after it. One final time with the lamp and it is all done. No worries for at least five years.
Contact
Do you also want a quick solution to make your production site safer? Please contact the professionals of SolidLux.
