Metsä Wood relies on Baumann for materials handling on site

Over the past four years, Metsä Wood UK has come to rely on the consistent performance of its side loaders from Baumann for the important job of moving raw material around at its four UK sites in Widnes, Boston, Kings Lynn and Grangemouth. Metsä Wood now has 26 Baumann side loaders in daily operation, including 23 GX 5 tonne diesel powered trucks and 3 HX 4 tonne LPG powered trucks.

According to Mike Gerrard, regional operations manager at Metsä Wood UK, "Since we switched our buying policy to Baumann for the first time four years ago, we have been extremely happy with the overall performance of their side loaders. Product reliability is excellent and the overall Baumann approach in addressing our business requirements is first class."

All of the Baumann side loaders at Metsä Wood UK have to work hard for a living as Mike Gerrard explains, "We really do work our trucks extremely hard, probably much harder than most companies within our industry. Generally the Baumann diesel and LPG powered trucks are operating for over 3000 hours per annum, working on a three shifts per day system, almost 24/7."

Metsä Wood UK is a long-term user of side loaders as they suit the movement of raw materials with it being far easier to handle the transportation of 6metre packs of timber with a side loader. According to Metsä Wood, Baumann side loaders not only provide much better stability for load movements on site, but also for consistency in performance and overall reliability.

"Four years ago, we undertook a comprehensive review and came to the opinion that it was the Baumann product that best suited our business needs. Their trucks are manufactured to an extremely high standard and their business approach and willingness to accommodate changes to the basic specification to suit our requirements was crucial. Four years later we still believe we made the correct choice for our business by employing Baumann side loaders," commented Mike Gerrard.

Metsä Wood is a core business within the Metsä Group, a co-operative of some 125,000 private forest owners in Finland, and is one of the largest companies in the forest products sector in Europe. Metsä Wood UK supplies a comprehensive range of wood-based products, systems and services to customers in the building and construction, industrial, distribution and retail sectors.

"The overall performance of our side loader within the intensive daily business operation at Metsä Wood UK is testament to the manufacturing and build quality of our trucks. Our business ethic is to fully support the customer throughout their working life of the product and we are pleased that Metsä Wood has benefited from its long term commitment to Baumann," said Andrew Burton from Baumann UK.