Well freighted
New production site and smart airport ground support equipment
Countless airplanes land and take off on tarmacs. However, a significantly larger number of vehicles on each tarmac do not take to the air, but remain on the ground. These ground-based cargo helpers include aircraft stairs, baggage and cargo trailers, as well as container trailers also known as dollies.
For more than 25 years, Blumenbecker Technik GmbH has been supplying, testing, maintaining and servicing this airport ground support equipment - but until now, without producing any of its own. This changed at the beginning of the year. With the takeover of MW Metallbau & ET-Service from Haiger, Blumenbecker now has its own production facility for airport ground support equipment.
Two becomes one
Ralf Herzog, Managing Director of Blumenbecker Technik GmbH, is delighted with the expansion: "By acquiring this steel construction company, we are further expanding the expertise of our airport ground support equipment business. We can now manufacture the dollies & baggage trolleys that were previously produced exclusively by subcontractors ourselves, which gives us deeper value creation and better control over quality, price and delivery time." Mike Wenzel - who works for Blumenbecker as Head of Railway Technology & Airport Ground Equipment - also sees the many opportunities: "Previously, as a pure project team without our own production, we were dependent on the external supplier. Now we can develop our products independently and can proactively intervene in the production process at any time during order processing," he explains.
First major order for in-house development
The KPA freight container dolly is a standard dolly. It can be loaded with aluminium containers of up to 5 tonnes. The trailer, which weighs around 1,350 kg, has been in use at many airports since the 1970s and has been produced thousands of times in Haiger. The company HiSERV - a service provider specialising in the rental of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) - enquired about these very standard dollies at the end of last year. During the subsequent consultations, it quickly became clear that HiSERV needed more than just standard.
"The KPA will be equipped with tracking function and load sensor. In 2020/21, we already tested four units with the tracking function and our own development, the load sensor, for HiSERV at Frankfurt Airport. The customer was enthusiastic. But since retrofitting existing dollies is time-consuming and costly, the tests have remained at that," Wenzel reports. Until now. Now Blumenbecker has been awarded the contract for 350 new dollies with these additional functions. "With our expertise in steel construction and our digital solutions, we can offer smart airport ground support equipment that will attract worldwide interest," he says with confidence.
» We are delighted about the large order from HiSERV and the opportunity to equip these 350 ordered dollies with the new, smart functions. «
The first delivered and it is being further developed
The first dollies have already been delivered. The rest will follow by the end of 2022. Roland Ückert, Managing Director of HiSERV, explains that about 40% of all dollies have now been converted to Blumenbecker equipment. HiSERV will be reordering more dollies with the tracking system as soon as all the performance points have been passed in the tough environment at Frankfurt Airport. The next project together with HiSERV is already in full swing. This time it's about luggage trolleys. In Scandinavia, where it is dark and cold for half of the year, the snow masses are a very special challenge.
The task: to make the luggage trolley lighter so that it is easier to manoeuvre through the snow. Of course, in the accustomed quality. "During the development of the prototype, we saved virtually every gram. We checked what we could make more stable in order to leave out steel. Now the trolley is 200 kg lighter and yet fully functional," says Wenzel. The long-term tests are still pending. Blumenbecker presented both prototypes for the first time at the joint stand with HiSERV at the GSE trade fair in Paris in September. "We are delighted to have Blumenbecker as a co-exhibitor on our innovative stand, so our joint customers can examine part of HiSERV's product portfolio," says Roland Ückert.
Dolly goes smart
Where is the next unloaded dolly? Dolly 2317 has to go to the UVV inspection - but where is it on the huge tarmac? Until now, searching and finding has been tedious and time-consuming. Until now, the eight-digit dolly numbers have been checked by hand in all weathers using a list. Until the corresponding dolly is found.
Thanks to the smart additional functions, the customer can now call up the data and locations digitally in real time. At the front, directly behind the drawbar, a radio unit is attached. "This is the control centre, so to speak. In this box is the data processing for positioning, recharging via solar and the transmitting and receiving unit. Behind it, between the support rollers, is the load sensor. It detects without contact whether or not the dolly is loaded with a container or a freight pallet. The sensor also transmits this information to the 'control centre'. Every change of position or load is immediately transmitted to the corresponding database via radio. "This gives the user in the control centre a real picture of what is currently happening on the tarmac with all movement scenarios and availabilities of the GSE units'", explains Wenzel.
GSE tracking system
The tracking system helps to keep the overview of the ground support equipment at an airport and to handle maintenance work more effectively.
Read more
