Reduced back strain: Dymax's investment in a Hovmand lifter relieves the work for production employees
Dymax, a global leader of manufacturing light-curing adhesives and equipment, produces its innovative adhesives for the European market in Wiesbaden.
The products must be filled into a wide variety of packaging units according to customer specifications. Since the employees often need to move large and heavy loads for this purpose, Dymax invested in a Hovmand lifter – a purchase that represents a significant relief for the production employees.
The company
For over 40 years, Dymax has been supplying numerous industries with high-quality light-curing adhesives, coatings, masking materials, and encapsulants, along with the associated dispensing and curing equipment. The company's core markets include automotive, electronics, aerospace technology, and medical device assembly, like needle bonding.
Additionally, Dymax's products are more and more used to build sensitive electronic for wearables and battery components for electric vehicles to protect them from harmful environmental influences.
Dymax Europe GmbH, based in Wiesbaden, is the European subsidiary of BC&E (Bachmann Chemicals & Engineering) in Torrington, Connecticut. Currently, about 60 employees work in the German branch – worldwide there are more than 550.
The challenge
For Dymax, it is crucial to provide optimal working conditions for every employee in production and filling while ensuring a seamless and efficient production process. Hence, work safety and ergonomics are prioritised. This commitment extends to the integration of proactive ergonomic measures to ensure that employees are protected from potential physical strains in the long term as they carry out their daily tasks.
In Wiesbaden, the company produces several tons of adhesive per year. This process involves numerous steps, from manufacturing in vessels to shipping the materials in suitable packaging units. Warehouse employees, therefore, need to lift both raw materials as well as the finished goods multiple times, with weights up to 18 kg (approximately 40 lbs).
The solution
Nina Drechsler, the leading production engineer at Dymax, began looking for a solution to help her team with these ergonomic challenges and quickly discovered Hovmand's lifters.
She says: "We searched the market, and a mobile lifter seemed to be the right solution to handle heavy loads in our warehouse quickly and safely. Moreover, it needed a high degree of flexibility that is required in production and repacking, and in that respect Hovmand's lifters seemed convincing."
In collaboration with Hovmand, the suitable model was quickly identified, and it became clear that the Hovmand Impact 70M lifter with a platform and bucket gripper would be the optimal choice for Dymax. This lifter model is known for its exceptional load capacity, while being surprisingly lightweight and easy to manoeuvre.
Additionally, the Impact 70M requires minimal maintenance, and the customisation options for an Impact lifter are nearly endless – Dymax combined legs, mast height, load capacity, and tools to configure exactly the lifter that makes the company's work processes more efficient and ergonomically safe.
However, Nina Drechsler also wanted to ensure that the investment was well-suited to the company's production process. Therefore, the company tested a demo lifter in its facilities for several days – an opportunity available to all Hovmand customers.
"We wanted to ensure that we get ergonomic relief for safely moving and lifting the loads. Moreover, the lifter had to be easy to operate and not take up too much space when not in use," says Nina Drechsler.
The lifters sleek design is appealing,
it is stable, but not too heavy, reliable, easy to operate, and perfectly sized for our needs.
It offers great ergonomic relief for
safely moving and lifting smaller loads.
Nina Drechsler, leading production engineer, Dymax
The conclusion
After testing the demo lifter for a few days, the conclusion was clear: This lifter perfectly met the expectations and fulfilled all requirements regarding ergonomics and work safety.
The Impact lifter has now become an essential part of transporting loads in the warehouse and production area and in dispensing raw materials.
"The Impact lifter supports our employees in their daily work and can be flexibly used whenever something needs to be brought to working height. Its sleek design is appealing, the lifter is stable but not too heavy, reliable, easy to operate, and perfectly sized for our needs. It offers great ergonomic relief for safely moving and lifting smaller loads," summarises Nina Drechsler.
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