When it comes to fleet management, Adara Pakkaus has built a close partnership with Toyota Material Handling
Adara Pakkaus is a small to medium sized packaging company that values Toyota Material Handling as a partner to support their technology and fleet management improvements.
About Adara Pakkaus
The Adara packaging factory is located in Valkeakoski, traditionally known for its paper industry, in a red brick factory building built in the 1960’s. Inside the factory, we find nothing even faintly old fashioned. Instead, a state-of-the-art automated production facility that manufactures corrugated cardboard and packaging for the Finnish food industry, among others.
The system, introduced in the production area in 2020, automatically transports corrugated cardboard products from one production stage to another. On the flip side, workers are needed in the factory's raw material and finished goods warehouses. They use manual forklifts to receive raw materials such as heavy cardboard rolls and starch sacks, and to transfer finished products from the end of the production line to the warehouse, where they are then loaded onto trucks. For this work, Adara's Procurement Manager, Piia Mäenpää, and Production Manager Lauri Valkeamäki chose Toyota Material Handling forklifts, of which there are nearly a dozen whizzing around in the company.
Facts & figures
- Customer: Adara Pakkaus
- Location: Valkeakoski, Finland
- Sector: Packaging and Containers Manufacturing
- Trucks and Solutions: 10 rental forklifts, I_Site Package Explorer
Forklift fleet monitoring with I_Site fleet management system
The I_Site system installed across the forklift fleet provides information on the number of hours the trucks have driven, which plays an important role in machine procurement.
"We are closely monitoring I_Site information about shocks that occur in our confined spaces, unfortunately. The sensors are sensitive enough to give us as much information as possible. Based on the impact data, we improve our drivers’ training, training which we provide both internally and in cooperation with Toyota,"Valkeamäki says. I_Site also manages the access rights of the drivers so that each forklift can only be used by the drivers assigned to it.
A gradual transition towards new technologies
With the most recent fleet upgrades, two new electric counterbalance forklifts were added to the forklift range. One is equipped with forks and the other with a roll clamp. This makes them ideal for handling Adara's product variety.
"We chose the electric forklifts for tasks where the amount of driving does not require charging the forklift during the shift," says Valkeamäki.
Within a year, the new machines have already proven their value for money. "Electric machines more pleasant to drive than engine powered forklifts, and still, they do exactly what they are supposed to do," says Valkeamäki.
At Adara, the switch from diesel to electric, more specifically lithium-ion battery-powered machines, is under way. As we gain experience, we move towards new technologies, step by step. "The next time we upgrade the machines, a little under five years from now, I believe that all our forklifts will be equipped with lithium-ion technology," Valkeamäki says.