Smooth and stable – even under heavy loads

Heavy duty swivel castor LH-POTH 125K-890621

The customer

… is a specialist in the field of plastic extrusion and a leading global provider of plastic panels and plastic profile systems for windows, doors and roller shutters based in Germany. The company sells its products in almost 40 locations, and has over 5,600 employees worldwide.


The challenge

As part of the manufacturing process for glass door profiles, the customer transports its products internally using transport units. These transport units are moved two at a time, using either forklifts or other towing equipment. The tugger trains cover long distances on industrial concrete cover floors at speeds of up to eight kilometres per hour. Previously, the transport units were carried by four cast iron brackets with cast iron wheels supplied by a competitor. These wheels frequently collapsed, damaging both the transport unit and the ground.

The customer wanted to find a castor solution which was more fit for purpose in order to reduce the risk of accidents and further damage. They also didn't want to spend any more than they had on the previous setup. The customer also required the solution to be smooth-running and have a long service life.


Our solution

Heavy duty swivel castor LH-POTH 125K-890621

We performed extensive driving tests using the heavy duty bracket of the LH series in combination with a variety of Blickle wheel series to find the solution which best met the customer's requirements. While keeping an eye on costs, Blickle developed an optimised version of the POTH wheel series with a reinforced nylon wheel centre, a larger ball bearing and a moulded 98 Shore A polyurethane tread.

The robust LH series heavy duty bracket with hardened bearing seats was added to round out the optimal castor system. Blickle matched the hole pattern of the top plate fitting to make the castor easy for the customer to install at no additional cost.

Compared to the cast iron castors which the customer was using before, the Blickle LH-POTH solution is smoother and much easier on the floor. It is also much quieter when in motion.


The result

By using the reinforced Blickle LH-POTH heavy duty castors, the customer significantly lowered their costs by greatly reducing the wear on the castors, decreasing subsequent costs and removing the need to repair the floor. The new system is also considerably better from an ergonomic perspective.


Technical information and product advantages LH-POTH 125K-890621

  • Reinforced nylon wheel centre, larger ball bearing, tread with special level of hardness
  • Hole pattern on top plate fitting makes it easy to switch to the new version
  • Reduced noise levels compared to predecessor
  • Reduced wear
  • Improved ergonomics