WÜRZBURG, GERMANY

The Koenig & Bauer Group is the oldest printing machine manufacturer in the world. In 1812, Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer invented the world’s first cylinder printing machine and five years later created the first fast press printing factory in Würzburg, Germany - Koenig & Bauer – where today, inkjet and offset rotary machines are being developed for commercial, decorative, functional, packaging and newspaper printing. Koenig & Bauer is the world leader in sheet-fed offset printing and newspaper printing.

In recent years, Koenig & Bauer has had to adjust its capacities due to the advances in digitalisation and declines within the advertising market, with consequences for their intralogistics operations. In the year 2000, a fully automated small part warehouse and a pallet depot were placed into operation. Parts up to 2.2m long can be kept in the pallet storage area, from where they can be transported by forklift trucks to the nearest station in the production department.

• Provided a range of equipment on a full service contract
• Helped reduce operating costs. Wherever possible, Koenig & Bauer replaced existing diesel trucks with modern, zero-emissions, electric Hyster® four-wheel counterbalanced forklift trucks, which are better for the environment
• The first 50 forklifts were replaced within just three months

• Succeeded in significantly reducing overall operating costs. The purchase of new, low-maintenance, Hyster® equipment allowed Koenig & Bauer to reduce the use of a technician to three days, instead of the whole week
• An in-house guidance system enables trucks to drive around 200 different stations in the operation – from the production areas for sheet, web offset and digital printing machines, plus special machines for the production of banknotes, through to the warehouse, and from the in-house foundry up to the administration area
• Koenig & Bauer aim to avoid making trips without loads, using the right forklift truck for all in-house transport, picking up urgent shipments and delivering them to the required work station on time. To help achieve this, the trucks have a display in the cabin, which shows the next job directly to the driver. Software calculates the optimal route and keeps the number of empty runs to a minimum
• While part of the Hyster® fleet is managed by the control system, the rest of the trucks are used within the production process or for loading and unloading lorries
• A number of electric forklifts with load capacities from 1.8 to 4.5 tonnes are now at the heart of the operation, including those from the Hyster® J1.6-2.0XN truck series’, which offer an small turning circle alongside superior energy efficiency. Thanks to their powerful three-phase current technology for the drive and lifting mechanism, these robust machines are particularly suitable for demanding applications over long shifts
• Several of the J3.0XN forklift trucks are fitted with an integrated fork positioning device and side thrust adjusters, as well as KOOI telescopic forks, which enable loading and unloading of the trucks from one side
• The Hyster® J4.5XN is used for heavier loads both indoors and outdoors. Despite a low level of energy consumption, this electric forklift achieves performance comparable to a truck with an internal combustion engine
• Some machines have been equipped with 360° rotatable fork clamps to allow metal boxes to be transported and then emptied directly from the truck