Honeycomb paperboard and corrugated pallet manufacturer Kimmo has developed and introduced a new honeycomb picking bin as an alternative storage solution and aims to raise awareness of its advantages with the local market this year.

Following the development of the picking bin in October last year, Kimmo MD Jan Vreken tells Engineering News that this solution offers the market a suitable middle-ground between expensive plastic or wooden crating and flimsy, temporary boxes.

The picking bins are manufactured from 15 mm honeycomb board and include hard-wearing reinforced corners. Standard widths are 300 mm, 600 mm and 900 mm; thus, various combinations of the bins can fit into standard 2.7 m racks used in warehouses, he says.

Honeycomb paperboard is a rigid, lightweight material. It is produced through laminating layers of thick paper onto a paper honeycomb core. This results in a structure with a significantly high crushing resistance, compression strength and rigidity.

Moreover, a 30-mm-thick honeycomb board can withstand a load of more than 16 t/m2, for example.

Since the bin’s development, Kimmo has received an order from a local automotive components distributor for 15 000 picking bins for use in a racking system in its warehouse. The bins will be used to demarcate the location of and store the various automotive components.

Growth Path
Vreken further highlights Kimmo’s growth in the past year, with the turnover having increased by about 50% and staff by 30%.

This growth follows the company’s significant investment in March 2014, which resulted in the installation of a 45-m-long core production line, a 60-m-long honeycomb lamination line and a 40-m-long edge-board line at its manufacturing facility in Johannesburg, Gauteng.

The investment included ancillary equipment – to convert honeycomb paperboards into crates and allow for the manufacturing of about 500 KimmoBins a day to the value of about R10-million.

Demand for the modular KimmoBins has also increased, Vreken says, which he attributes to the growing number of companies looking for affordable alternatives to wooden crates, especially for exports.

Another industry trend supporting the shift from using wood to honeycomb paperboard could be attributed to the changes in transport packaging fumigation regulations from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The department issued a notice stating that, effective from December 31, 2015, methyl bromide – used as a fumigation product for wooden crates or pallets used in exports – would no longer be acceptable.

“However, Kimmo’s products do not require any heat treatment or fumigation, thereby providing a viable export and transportation solution,” Vreken concludes.