George UTZ

Who is George UTZ?

George UTZ is the UK division of The UTZ group, an international company specialising in plastics founded in 1947, based in Switzerland. The UK subsidiary focusses on injection moulding using state of the art machinery and technology.

The Challenge:

George UTZ contacted Advanced Handling as part of a drive to improve health and safety in their factory. One process which heavily relied upon manual handling was the loading of plastic moulded containers from the moulding machine conveyor to the pallet loading point. Employees were doing this manually which involved a lot of reaching, bending and stretching approximately 2,500mm but even though the containers were light, there was still the risk of strain and injury.

The Solution:

Advanced Handling visited George UTZ’s site to gain a full insight into their process and understand how it fits into the overall operation of the factory. This gave Advanced Handling the opportunity to discuss and explore various solutions before confirming which was the right and best one for George UTZ’s application.

During the site visit, they discovered that the process in discussion could be simplified with a 1,000kg U-Shaped Low Profile Scissor Lift Table and a slight change in factory layout and operations. This involved the customer creating a raised platform work area to significantly decrease reach heights.

The U-shaped feature of the table allowed George UTZ to load and unload the table with their Euro pallets at a low level using a fork truck rather than needing a ramp or a pit mount. The table’s control unit sits on a pedestal for easy access and use.

Advanced Handling’s Low Profile Scissor Lift Tables come as standard with an emergency stop button and a safety trip bar which automatically stops the lift if it hits an obstacle. All tables comply with European Standard EN1570:1999.

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The Benefits:

George UTZ has reduced the manual handling for this process significantly and employees no longer have to bend, reach and stretch to lift and manoeuvre the plastic moulded containers. George UTZ is working with Advanced Handling to make further improvements by adding safety gates to the open front of the deck preventing access to underneath the lift when the table is raised to further enhance health and safety.

“Thank you to Advanced Handling for our Scissor Lift Tables. They’ve made such a difference to our employees’ working lives and contributed considerably to our drive towards removing unnecessary manual handling from UTZ.”

Shaun, Maintenance & Facilities Manager, George UTZ

If you’re facing a similar challenge in your workplace, contact us on 01778 345 365 or email [email protected] & we’ll be happy to help.