'We want to properly protect our employees, valuable machinery and piping'

Low maintenance collision protection

Europe's most modern corrugated board plant has recently been set up in De Lier. At the end of January, De Jong Verpakking celebrated the opening of this brand new production facility. "With this we have doubled our capacity," says support manager Mattheus Piek, responsible for the support and optimization of the production processes, "I mainly arranged the layout of this new factory and safety issues are an important part of this. For the collision protection, we chose A-SAFE and that has worked out very well."

"In the existing plant, we had already had experience with A-SAFE. When building the new site, we wrote to several clients to find out what they could do for us. A-SAFE came out on top because of their value for money, turnaround time and the fact that they could carry out the project in phases. Because this is a huge area, about 95,000 square feet, we wanted to take a step-by-step approach so we wouldn't overlook things."

Collision Protection

De Jong Packaging has the largest production capacity in Europe. Characteristic are their short lead times, favorable price-quality ratio and the ability to move quickly. "For every type of packaging we have the necessary machines in house. With the right collision protection, we wanted to create a clear routing and properly shield the various work areas. In this way we protect our personnel from the danger that machines and moving vehicles can cause and prevent damage to our fragile piping and costly installations." Because a steel crash barrier is more expensive to maintain, De Jong Verpakking opted for a plastic crash barrier. "At the other location, we already had the experience that with a plastic crash barrier you are less likely to have damage. If damage does occur, the crash protection is easier to replace. After all, you don't have to remove the whole guardrail, as is the case with metal. With the latter, you often have to pour a new piece of concrete floor right away."

Phased installation

"As indicated earlier, we took a phased approach to the process. We approached each production department as a sub-project and implemented it separately, keeping it manageable and manageable for all parties involved. As a result, 'finished' really meant finished and we couldn't overlook anything. Someone from A-SAFE visited regularly to discuss the status of the subprojects. Usually it was right the first time, sometimes minor adjustments had to be made before we could move on to the next project. This worked extremely efficiently. The contact with A-SAFE was very pleasant. We were able to lean well on their knowledge, experience and expertise."

Tested

"It's very nice to be able to test their collision protection in practice. At the time of delivery, we conducted a test with A-SAFE in which a forklift truck deliberately drove into the crash protection at a certain speed. We saw that it did an excellent job.

That leaves the question of whether the collision protection has already proven its worth? "Yes indeed! As indicated earlier, safety on the shop floor is an important issue for us. The collision protection ensures that employees and visitors can move around the shop floor safely because the work area is separated from the pedestrian area. We get the response from both our employees and visitors that everything looks very clear, solid and neat. So from day one we have already benefited from the clear routing created by the new collision protection."