English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 3 - 2016 | Page 39

INNOVATION

Innovation in the production

EXPANSION PRODUCTION

MANOOVR

WHEN THE MANOOVR WAS INTRODUCED IN OCTOBER 2015 A NUMBER OF THESE TRAILERS HAD ALREADY BEEN SOLD , UNSEEN . MANY LARGE ( AND NOT SO LARGE ) TRANSPORT OPERATORS RECOGNISED THE ADVANTAGES OF THE NEW MANOOVR GENERATION AND AS A RESULT THEY ORDERED A LARGE NUMBER OF TRAILERS . SO MANY THAT THE PRODUCTION CAPACITY NEEDS TO BE DOUBLED . BEHIND THE SCENES WE ARE HARD AT WORK TO ACHIEVE THIS .
WHAT THE CUSTOMER DOESN ’ T SEE ... The customers of Nooteboom buy and use trailers that are low , light and easy to operate . But before the trailer sets off with its first load , dozens of people at Nooteboom – from engineering to delivery – have worked on perfecting “ their ” Nooteboom trailer . In this process changes are now being rapidly implemented . On the one hand to further improve the quality , on the other hand to be able to deliver the large number of orders on time . And which departments are taking major steps forward ? Engineering are working on new Manoovr versions , in production new welding machines have been brought in and the new paint shop is up and running . In other departments our people are working at high speed on a new website and expansion of the service organisation .
The level of demand for the new Manoovr is above initial expectations . More than 500 axle lines have been sold and many of them have already been delivered too . But development continues apace . The next step is the Manoovr with excavator trough . With a highly efficient production and continuous investment in better methods , Nooteboom is prepared for the future . ■
ONE OF THE MANY INNOVATIONS IN THE PRODUCTION For the production and assembly of the pendle axles a new system has been developed . The aim was to make the production even faster and more ergonomic . In the new situation the pendle axles are assembled in a kind of carrousel with four workstations . At each workstation work can be done on the pendle axles at various heights . The production line can be used for any pendle axle in the Nooteboom vehicle programme . The capacity is approx . fifty pendle axles per week . With a 2-shift operation the number could be increased further . This extremely advanced production method has more than halved the time needed to assemble one pendle axle . At the same time as the pendle axle assembly line , the first new crane for mounting the tyres was introduced . The new crane makes it possible to work more ergonomically . And last but not least : the assembly process has become safer too .
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