When luxury motorhomes float

The company

Keep your head down and move very carefully: This exercise may be unavoidable when holidaying with ‘normal’ motorhomes and campers, but not with MORELO motorhomes. The company, founded in 2010, has firmly established itself in the luxury market segment and, in Schlüsselfeld, manufactures first-class motorhomes in a wide range of variations, all of which provide a spacious sense of living and travel.

The manufacture of ‘made in Germany’ motorhomes – including those in the luxury segment – demands a meticulously scheduled and highly organised assembly process. This is all the more important, as the individual units are customised with numerous optional extras. MORELO therefore works with modern production concepts such as Kanban and Kaizen - and with a perfectly adapted crane and handling system. With a focus on detail, every step counts in providing the customer with their own home for the perfect journey.

Requirement 

The assembly line starts with a chassis that has been prepared by a vehicle man-ufacturer as a partner company, e.g. with reinforcements in the chassis and mounting points for the body. Then the ‘bare’ chassis moves through a production line with 25 stations and ultimately emerges as a fully equipped, ready-to-drive luxury motorhome. One detail illustrates just how complex the assembly process is: between eight and 25 kilometres of cables are laid in a single motorhome.

Mounting larger modules such as the kitchen and side walls requires precision. They are individually assembled and fully finished on separate ‘feeder lines’ – including exterior paintwork and decoration, interior carpets, windows, door frames, etc. On the main line, they then ‘only’ need to be provided and installed. For the corresponding stations, MORELO was looking for a flexible and precisely positionable transport and handling system.

The solution 

A Demag KBK double girder suspension crane system was installed over half the length of the assembly line. The light crane system is a proven standard solution for assembly tasks in a wide range of industries and in the production of automotive components. The number of crane bridges on the crane runway can be selected flexibly, the smooth running properties ensure ergonomic handling and precise horizontal positioning. The power is supplied by the customer via an integrated conductor line and ensures greater safety due to the lack of conductor line and any collision points with the motorhome components. This also creates an appealing look, which is important for MORELO because the company regularly offers factory tours to the worldwide fan community.

Demag DC-Com chain hoists are used for vertical transport. They impress in thousands of applications with their high quality in everyday use, excellent standard equipment, and extensive optional packages. For the assembly, it is extremely important to MORELO that the two standard lifting speeds can be used. Creep lifting is primarily needed in the final centimetres when the modules are placed on the vehicle's interior floor or – in the case of the bodies – when they are connected to the chassis and to one another. In addition, the side walls are moved vertically with the KBK system from the horizontal position (for transport to the station).

Special features 

Demag KBK cranes always use a load bar for precise positioning of the side walls on the chassis. The pre-assembled walls are not particularly heavy – lightweight construction is the fundamental concept behind motorhomes – but they are quite unwieldy. A ten-metre-long unit (and there are even longer ones) is a component measuring around 30 m2 that has to be positioned, fitted and secured extremely precisely on or to the chassis.