Transfer - Geis Group
Transfer - Geis Group
Transfer - Geis Group
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10 | road serviCes<br />
roller-bearing round-trip<br />
Two plants – one solution: In Schweinfurt and in the Italian town of Airasca, SKF manufactures a whole range of different<br />
types of roller-bearings. <strong>Geis</strong> now organizes just-in-time round-trip deliveries between the two plants.<br />
Balls, cones,<br />
and the like<br />
The term ball-bearing<br />
is often used colloquially<br />
as a synonym for rollerbearings.<br />
Strictly speaking,<br />
however, ball-bearings<br />
are only one type of<br />
roller-bearing. This is<br />
because the rolling<br />
elements inside a rollerbearing<br />
come in a range<br />
of different shapes:<br />
cones, cylinders, needles,<br />
barrels – and balls,<br />
of course.<br />
even in the morning in Schweinfurt. In SKF’s<br />
largest factory anywhere in the world, preparations<br />
are underway for the next roller-bearing<br />
round-trip delivery. SKF employees load a <strong>Geis</strong><br />
truck with pallets holding wooden crates packed with<br />
roller-bearings. And they’re heavy! Once loaded, the<br />
trucks, at around 24 tonnes, are usually at their weight<br />
limit.<br />
puncTual & TransparenT. A short time later, the<br />
vehicle heads south. After a maximum of 23 hours it<br />
reaches its destination, some 800 kilometres away in<br />
the Italian town of Airasca near Turin in northwest<br />
Italy, where SKF Italy has a production site. The roller-bearings<br />
from Schweinfurt are either used directly<br />
in the factory or are handed to an Italian forwarder,<br />
who transports the goods to customers or distributors<br />
– and herein lies the challenge: “As the forwarder<br />
needs to start delivering the goods on the same day,<br />
shipments to Italy have to be just-in-time operations”,<br />
explains Peter Gayer, Head of Key Account Management<br />
at Hans <strong>Geis</strong> GmbH. “To guarantee this, we<br />
track the location of our trucks between Schweinfurt<br />
and Italy and pass on this information to SKF Italy,<br />
Germany and the head office in Sweden. We also do<br />
the same in the opposite direction, between Airasca<br />
and Schweinfurt. This means that the customer is<br />
always in the know as to the current delivery status.”<br />
efficienT roTaTion sysTem. After being unloaded,<br />
the truck starts its return journey. Its return load to<br />
Schweinfurt comprises products only produced in<br />
Airasca and required by SKF plants, dealers and cus-<br />
tomers worldwide. These are mainly roller-bearings<br />
for the automotive industry, as many well-known<br />
luxury and sports car manufacturers are customers of<br />
SKF.<br />
The round-trip deliveries are not always perfectly balanced<br />
however, because demand for the goods from<br />
the other locations varies a great deal. Each day one<br />
or two trucks leave Schweinfurt; from Airasca it can<br />
be up to five trucks. “For the vehicles coming from<br />
Schweinfurt there is usually a return load from Airasca.<br />
There are also individual loads from Airasca for<br />
which there is no return load from Schweinfurt”, explains<br />
Peter Gayer. “The uneven and irregular nature<br />
of the round-trips means that our team needs to be<br />
extremely flexible, with each operation having to be<br />
planned precisely and individually to ensure maximum<br />
transport efficiency.”<br />
on The road worldwide for skf. <strong>Geis</strong> has<br />
been organizing round-trip transportation between<br />
Germany and Italy for SKF since June 2011. The<br />
two companies began cooperating in 2004. Besides<br />
the roller-bearing round-trip transport operation,<br />
<strong>Geis</strong> now also organizes transport services for SKF<br />
to Austria, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Turkey.<br />
Round-trip runs are only organized to Italy, however.<br />
Meanwhile a return load of roller-bearings from<br />
Airasca has arrived in Schweinfurt. SKF employees<br />
unload the pallets from the vehicle, and the truck is<br />
immediately prepared for the next trip to Italy. The<br />
round-trip trucks are never stationery for long. —