IN FOCUS: TRUCK BODIES & TRAILERS
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TRAILER DEMAND STAYS STEADY IN THE UK & IRELAND CLEAR International’s latest forecast for the West European Trailer Market is forecasting a slowdown in demand for trailers in the region during 2019; in the first five months trailer demand has fallen by an estimated 2% and a 10% fall is forecast for the year. However, the UK is among several countries that have been experiencing some growth since the beginning of the year. Trailer demand reached a very high level in 2018, rivalled only by 2007 which had an unnaturally high level of trailer sales largely brought on by the number of countries that joined the EU in 2004-07. All these factors point to a fall in demand for new trailers in 2019, say Clear, but fortunately for the industry, the fall will be relatively modest and short-lived. From 2017-21 trailer registrations are forecast to be higher than any five year period in history, even though that will include 2019 when demand is forecast weaker. The previous record breaking five
year period was from 2004‑08. Production of trailers was at the second highest level on record in 2018 (though well short of the 2007 figure). The industry is therefore achieving both high levels of output and relative stability in what is traditionally a volatile sector of the vehicle market. Among local companies optimistic about the future of the industry is MAW Engineering Limited, a new venture that is specialising in the manufacture of walking floor trailers, truck bodies and home delivery vans. The company has already made a significant investment in the Toome area, through building a 50,000 square foot factory on a six acre site in Creagh Industrial Estate, Toome.
SDC Truck & Trailer Parts has also been expanding its activities. As you will read, it now has a portfolio of 16,000 different parts, nine branches, and a fleet of 29 delivery vehicles. It is also exporting to 18 different countries around the world. Also investing is Staffordshire based Don-Bur which is spending £4 million in new plant, software and training to mass-produce a range of standard product types including curtainsider and box van trailers, together with a palletnetwork design double deck. The strategic move from the ‘custom’ trailer and bodywork heavyweight supports a targeted increase in turnover of £10 million per annum and recognises a
growing demand for short-contract, standard design equipment at highly competitive rates. Krone Trailers, too, continues to make its mark, winning new orders across the UK and recently was presented with the Green Truck Trailer Innovation Award for Smart Capacity Management. Krone Smart Capacity Management is an information exchange platform connected to a freight exchange where digital data is received from the sender and then forwarded to the shipper and the consignee - and vice versa. Over the next number of pages, we report on these and other developments within the trailer sector…
Don-Bur is investing £4 million in new plant Don-Bur is investing £4 million in new plant, software and training to mass-produce a range of standard product types including curtainsider and box van trailers, together with a pallet-network design double deck. The strategic move from the ‘custom’ trailer and bodywork heavyweight supports a targeted increase in turnover of £10 million per annum and recognises a growing demand for short-contract, standard design equipment at highly competitive rates. Although Don-Bur already designs and manufactures the complete range of commercial vehicle bodywork, they are perhaps best known for their fuel-saving aerodynamic solutions and their Double Deck trailer range which now dominate the major fleets. The heavy investment in the latest cutting-edge equipment was focussed on standardisation, speed, efficiency and volume and the results are impressive. At the core of the new development is a cutting-edge £1m autonomous raw material and parts management hub; a large pallet
racking space with room to store 15,795 m2 (4 acres) of sheet steel. Measuring 25m long by 7m wide and 5m tall, the STOPA stock handling modules are tied in to a new ERP software suite which automatically dissolves 3D engineering models into full “bill of material” components. It recognises whether each individual component needs to be cut and pressed or, if not, exports the remainder as an internal order for miscellaneous parts. It also anticipates production schedule requirements for laser cut sheeting, pressings, drilling, and shotblast and issues orders for raw material when it believes stocks are running low. Ingeniously, it also manages ‘scrap’ material, cleverly storing away and re-using remnants of material wherever it can to maximise yield. The only manual intervention is to feed it with raw material and collect prepared job-specific assembly kits.
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The processing workhorse of the new development is a top-of-the-range Trumpf ‘Fibre’ Laser cutter. ‘Fibre’ laser technology is a process of combining multiple laser beams into one lossless optic fibre beam which cuts standard 3mm steel sheet at the staggering rate of 1.38 metres per second. Speed however is not the only benefit. The new laser uses both Oxygen and Nitrogen gases; Oxygen to supplement the laser with an exothermic power boost and Nitrogen to shield the surface of the cut material from oxidisation. An additional compressed jet of air blasts hot material away from the active site which maintains clean and precise cuts through previously problematic materials such as thin aluminium. The new investment allows Don-Bur to rapidly produce a range of “configured to order” standard product lines on short lead times which will be immediately attractive to many general hauliers, rental companies and pallet network operators alike; a relatively untapped market for Don-Bur.
Tel: +44 28 9335 2827 Mobile: +44 77 3612 7221 Email: denn-part@dennisons.co.uk
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