Germany-based Hubtex was founded back in 1981 and has gone on to become one of the biggest names in materials handling, forging a reputation for the manufacture of custom-built trucks.

Hubtex’s industrial trucks, sideloaders and special-purpose equipment for long, heavy and bulky goods have been designed to ensure efficient material flow and goods handling in the tightest of spaces at production and retail companies.

Its watchwords have been constant dialogue with customers to adapt vehicles to their requirements, as well as flexibility and multifunctionality.

Based in Fulda, central Germany, 450 employees work at the main production site at the Fulda-West industrial estate.

Innovation in order picking allows clients to increase their efficiencies, reduce their space, improve their use of time, reduce handling of product and reduce damage to goods while also enabling operators to using more automated systems in handling of heavy or bulky timber.

Hubtex is well known for its multi-directional sideloaders, particularly for electric ones, less so for diesel and LPG units. In electrics we are an innovator – we have been using electric sideloaders since the early 1990s in the timber industry.

They can have capacity up to 25 tonnes and can be adapted to suit nearly every client’s individual application.

We focus on the load, the clients’ requirements and we then configure the best vehicle to suit the actual system and the operation, whether this be a manual system, a semi-automatic or even a fully Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) – Hubtex already has those technologies developed.

THE DQ-X AND MAXX SERIES TRUCKS

Hubtex’s DQ-X Series is a multi-directional four-way sideloader that features an improved cabin, with the ergonomics allowing the operator more space, larger windows and doors giving greater visibility and safety for handling long loads.

Other improvements are the controls within the cabin area and an improved engine which has reduced the emissions from diesel or gas units.

This series has a 4.5 tonne capacity and a lift height of up to 7.5m. The gas-powered units are traditionally seen in many builders merchants or timber yards.

The MaxX series of sideloaders are electric units which are designed as a perfect solution for indoor and outdoor use. It won the Fork Lift Truck Association’s Award for Excellence in 2019 for its ergonomics in offering the operators a spacious cabin and generous leg room. They have the HIT 2 (Hubtex Information Terminal) multi-functional display which allows the operator to understand the position of the wheels, the tilt operation and a number of other truck functions.

In addition, the cabin has been designed in conjunction with the mast to give the maximum visibility to the operator. Finally the MaxX series can also come with the patented HX Steering for true multidirectional transitions in all directions for this unit.

PHOENIX SERIES

The Phoenix series is customisable to the operations and loads the client has to work with. This series has been adapted where you can fully customise the cabin, the load bed and the lift mast. There is so much versatility.

It has the first fully electric steering system in the world for a sideloader. It also has the patented HX Steering for greater maneuverability for the operator and in addition gives the truck the platform for use either as a fully automated or semi-automated vehicle. Therefore we can use the Phoenix Series and the platform for AGV solutions.

The AGV solutions as a sideloader base on the Phoenix platform offers fully electric steering which is not only energy-efficient, but can be used with lithium-ion batteries so the trucks can self charge and in addition to that they are totally silent.

So, whether it is manual, semi-automated or a fully automated solution, the truck is designed for the greatest efficiency. The AGV solution works with warehouse management solutions and can be programmed to operate in the narrowest isles 24/7 without the interaction of the operator.

ORDER PICKING SOLUTIONS

Looking at order picking solutions, we can look at either a modular design where you have a sideloader and a detachable order picking platform, or you have a system which is fully automated that allows the truck to go and do the work from an order picking perspective.

There are many solutions for order picking in the timber industry but for sheet material a multi-directional sideloader with its detachable platform is ideal for medium picking operations.

This means you can bring the platform and truck directly to the material thereby reducing the number of handling to the material, leading to a reduction in damages.

It’s an ideal configuration for reducing the aisles down as narrow as possible and the lift heights can be variable, with 11-12m picking height not unusual in a number of picking applications.

The EZK order picking platforms are ideal for double side picking in two sided shelf applications. They have high handling capacities and either come with a scissor lift or a lift mast system. The picking vehicles can also come with wire or rail guidance and have a number of options for strapping of the goods during transport and can be configured for a single person or double person operation.

As the needs and requirements of clients develop further we now have the Vacumax system which has been developed to reduce damages of the actual material, particularly for sheet material or laminates.

The Vacumax uses suction technology for picking up individual sheets and placing them down on the vehicle where they can be packed securely.

The vacuum technology allows for heavier loads to be placed securely on the truck and it can be either done as one sheet or multiple sheets during the picking process. In addition to this technology this can now be integrated with warehouse management systems so the truck can drive to different locations and can either be semi-automated or a fully automated system.

KRONOSPAN

Leading Swiss forklift importer Rohrer-M-Marti joined with Hubtex to design a bespoke solution for Kronospan Switzerland. The solution meant employees were aided by less physical stress on them in operations, as well as the benefit of throughput times in the picking hall being reduced.

Unlike before, the whole process is now carried out by a single picker with the operator no longer needing to leave the EZK35 vehicle.

The picking process begins when the four-digit storage location is input. The operator is now directed to the target, barcodes strips attached to the rack ends playing a central role.

Every centimeter of a rack aisle corresponds to a bar code which is logged by the readers during the run.

At the destination the operator moves using a joystick to the right rack level. Now the vacuum suction device with its eight suction pads kicks into action.

Each panel is centred so that stacks with a maximum tolerance of 8mm are created. If there is dust or other dirt on one of the panels it can be removed by the built-in blow off device. At the end the operator starts the strapping without changing the current height position which is another huge time benefit.

Michael Hofstetter, technical consultant, Kronospan Schweiz AG, said: “All requirements that we placed on the vehicle were taken on board and implemented in to the vehicle so we can say today that the vehicle is 100% operational and working well.”

Hubtex has written a white paper for the timber industry particularly focused on order picking. Since the white paper was developed it is even more poignant now with these times of Covid that we get the right solution for our applications. The whitepaper can be downloaded on our website.