Tennessee tire plant reduces delays and improves safety

Successful production lines depend on reliable materials handling equipment in order to keep moving and meet demand in a timely manner. For the tire industry, maintaining pace with a rapidly expanding global automotive and commercial vehicle sector means that any delay can result in lack of competitiveness and escalating costs.

Our customer in North America wanted a better way when it came to moving awkward carts containing wire spools used in the manufacturing of tires.

Previously, the carts – which weigh around 2,600 lbs when full – were moved up and down the factory’s production aisles using other handling equipment, without success.

So, staff resorted to manually pushing and pulling them through the process.

The carts, which were difficult to maneuver, presented a real risk of injury – not to mention a lack of efficiency leading to unnecessary wasted time.

Christian Coker, sales manager at MasterMover Inc, then offered to demonstrate a SM100+ at the Tennessee site.

The customer was so pleased with the tugger’s quick and efficient performance that they placed an order and have since purchased six more.

MasterMover Inc is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and handles sales and servicing for clients across the United States and Canada.

Christian said: “Moving the carts by hand was hard work. As well as greater reliability, our machines offer a small footprint and the ability to turn easily between the production aisles.

“The customer also likes that it attaches easily to their existing carts and the fact that it can be used by different end users. The staff loved the compact size, ease of use and great battery life of the SmartMover when compared to the other equipment they’d tried.

“Now, movement can be completed quickly and easily so there is no downtime. Production is not held up by costly delays.”

The SM100+ is capable of handling tricky slopes, highly congested areas and unpredictable terrain if needed. Operators simply press a button to activate a hydraulic clamp and create a secure, unbreakable connection when moving loads of up to 2,600 lbs.