Sofidel Enhances Safety and Efficiency with AMESPHERE from AME
Sofidel was founded in Italy more than 50 years ago and has since expanded its tissue production throughout Europe and the United States to provide extensive local product distribution capability for its customers. Due to the production of high volumes of tissue, the company requires extensive warehousing facilities with the ability to transport bulky, heavy loads safely and efficiently. To this end, its plants employ numerous forklifts. Some are automated and others manually operated, but both need to work safely in busy environments with multiple vehicles and pedestrians. However, the volumes involved mean that, while safety is paramount, efficiency is also a prime objective for the business.
The AMESHPHERE anticollision system detects if there is a pedestrian or other vehicle nearby and audibly and visibly warns the driver.
Alberto Cinelli, Sofidel Corporate Spare Parts Optimisation & CNV Machinery director, explains the logistical challenges the business faces: “Our products are bulky, and a pallet can weigh around 200 kg with two to four pallets typically being transported together. Our production processes are also designed to produce large reels of paper which are converted into smaller rolls at a later stage. These reels can weigh up to five tons. This requires large warehouse facilities and involves a lot of handling, loading, and unloading. Forklifts are used to move the products; some are automated (AGVs) and others manually driven by an operator. Using manual forklifts gives us flexibility in areas where it is needed, but inevitably this increases the risk of collisions or accidents in our busy work areas. Overall, we have significant sizes of vehicles and heavy loads. We need to manage these precisely and as safely as possible to protect drivers, pedestrians, and vehicles over large areas.”
Sofidel came across AME some 10 years ago while investigating possible solutions to enhance site safety. Since then, the companies have worked together to understand the complex needs of the Sofidel warehouses and define a technological solution to fit their requirements. This resulted in a system that is flexible, reliable, and easy to configure, use, and install: AMESPHERE.
“We started a pilot project 18 months ago, jointly developing and adapting AME’s solution to meet the needs of our application. Alongside safety and reliability, one of the biggest goals was simplicity for both the installation on the forklift and for the operator experience,” explains Cinelli.
LEARNING TOGETHER FOR THE BEST RESULT
Sofidel and AME learned together to design the best configurations, for example, where to situate the sensors on the forklifts so they were not easily broken during operations. Working closely together and as technology advanced, new features made the system more reliable, simplified, and powerful.
Adaptive functionality was added to enable greater use of forklift potential and optimise productivity and operational efficiency.
Cinelli continues, “By slowing the speed of the forklifts, we naturally reduce levels of risk. If you reduce the speed of the forklift from 12 to 8 km/h in busier areas, you certainly make operations safer, but it also takes 15-20 percent more people and forklifts to do the same work. We did not want to impact productivity in this way so we needed a solution that would make our sites both safer and more efficient where possible. Our warehouses are between 10,000 and 40,000 m2 and if there is no pedestrian or other vehicle in the area, we need the forklifts to operate as quickly as possible.”
The AMESPHERE anticollision system detects if there is a pedestrian or other vehicle nearby and audibly and visibly warns the driver. This means that forklifts can move quickly in quieter areas, but also can be automatically slowed if there is danger nearby. For Sofidel, forklifts are automatically slowed to 2 km/h if they move close to a pedestrian and 8 km/h if there is another vehicle in proximity. Braking is gradual to ensure loads remain stable and safe. Pedestrians are equipped with wearable tags while they are on site that continuously communicate with the forklifts, creating an overall safety net across the warehouse. The system is completely configurable to meet individual site needs in terms of zones, speeds, and proximity levels.
DATA COLLECTION FOR FUTURE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS
Now that Sofidel has implemented the AMESPHERE system, it is also gaining more insights into its operations by collecting data on vehicle speeds, proximity, and location. The platform offers a unique feature called the Efficiency & Safety Indicator (ESI), which Sofidel considers particularly valuable for potential accurate data evaluation, although it is yet to explore this feature. The ESI serves as an index, derived from the collected data, reflecting the potential for safety and operational efficiency of the work environment in real-time. This single coefficient provides a comprehensive snapshot of the facility’s potential safety and efficiency status. Sofidel plans to leverage the ESI for future data evaluations, making adjustments to enhance operations further.
“We have been using AMESPHERE for around a year now and have had no accidents. Our goal is to continue to elevate levels of safety, especially in busy areas or where visibility is limited because of the stacks of products. Because AMESPHERE is an adaptive system, when sensors detect that another vehicle is nearby speeds are automatically slowed to avoid collisions. Our safety and efficiency are improving together, and we are very happy with the results we are seeing,” says Cinelli.
Sofidel has installed AMESPHERE on all its sites across Italy. It plans to roll the system out throughout its other plants in Europe and the USA over the coming years.
“The training required for operators is minimal, and the installation is straightforward, showcasing the successful results of our collaboration with AME. After some initial scepticism, our operators find the system reliable and easy to use and feedback has been positive.
“Safety is essential, but we also must be profitable. I think of AMESPHERE as ‘sustainable safety’, where we are both gaining efficiency and reducing risk across our sites. This has been a good experience and a beneficial partnership,” concludes Cinelli.
