Outdoor storage solution
Saint-Gobain Insulation Solutions provides insulation for entire buildings – not just its outer shell and walls but also its technical installations. “We buy raw materials on a large scale and process those into insulation materials – Sound and fire barriers, suspended ceilings, trapezoid fillers and sealed materials”, Verboven says. “About 40% of what we do is manufacturing – cutting, gluing, scaling – and the rest is sales.”
For their location in Tilburg, they needed a way to store pallets outdoors; setting up the new assembly department for interior and exterior walls meant they needed a temporal solution. Outdoor storage was the solution, but they lacked the materials to do so – specifically, a packing robot that could wrap or hood pallets in a watertight manner.
Watertight and stable
While contacting several companies, Verboven reached out to F3-Design. His initial impression was very positive. “During my first meeting with them, I sat down directly with producers and their director Frans Maas”, he says. “This told me they took me seriously. I also liked the fact that they’re within reach, which is convenient should a pressing malfunction occur. This is exactly the reason why they work with integrators abroad – so they can provide customers the same high quality, no matter where they are situated.”
“We were looking for a way to pack pallets other than wrapping them”, Verboven continues. “We know a wrapped pallet isn’t watertight. They also tend to tip over every now and again. The Dino Stretch Hood was a solution in multiple ways. Other than providing a watertight pallet that was also more stable, hooded pallets are also easier to pick up with forklift trucks at a customer’s construction site. Furthermore, the Dino Stretch Hood is more efficient than our previous wrapping robot, accounting for higher output and less machine downtime.”
Choosing F3-Design
Verboven praises F3’s way of thinking, because according to him, the customer comes first at F3-Design. “Ever since our first meeting I have been impressed with their expertise and thoughtfulness”, he says. “You’re not talking to a sales person but to a manufacturer. Right from the get-go I was treated with respect and understanding. F3 knows their engineering and they know what to look for when approaching a new customer. What problems are they facing? What are the bottlenecks of their internal processes?”
While he claims F3’s pricing was also advantageous, it wasn’t a decisive factor per se. “I was much more interested in their approach”, Verboven continues. “They’re not out to sell as many products as they can, they want you to have the best possible solution and they also want it to work. Their job starts with advice based on on-site observations, and ends with a fully functional device. When our Dino’s altimeter initially had trouble registering pallets, F3-Design took care of it and provided a solution free of charge.”
Verboven’s enthusiasm with has already led to another Saint-Gobain division testing the Dino. “F3-Design knows their trade like no other”, he concludes. “They don’t have a hidden agenda – they just want you to have the best possible functioning apparatus.”
