Case Study: Praxas and Smulders

Smulders supplies high-quality products for the horse market for twenty years. Everything is developed and produced in-house in Poland. All production employees have a lot of experience in steel production and the process of both soft and stainless steel.

Customers Of Smulders

Smulders’ customers are spread all over the world. From Australia to the United States. The products are shipped in 40ft High Cube sea containers. During transport, the products cross different climate zones.

These are high-quality steel products. The products must be of the same quality on arrival as when they leave the factory in Poland. However, steel is sensitive to corrosion at higher humidity.

Experiencing Risks During Transport

On countersunk steel can come a white layer, also called white rust. This can be prevented by keeping the humidity in the container low.

Together with Praxas, we looked for a suitable solution to exclude the risk of weed rust during sea transport. In the first place, it was tested only by applying desiccants in the containers. All containers were monitored live. By logging the location, time, temperature and humidity in the container, it could be seen whether this was sufficient to exclude the risks. Upon the arrival of the container,
it turned out that the attack on the steel was less. But the result of using only desiccants was not yet sufficient. For this reason, the switch was then made to the Praxas Container Pack.

The Benefits Of The Praxas Container Pack

The Praxas Container Pack consists of one package containing a container liner to protect the goods in the container from moisture from outside. Moisture can come from the floor or moisture that enters the container through the ventilation holes.

In addition, the temperature in the container stabilizes, which prevents peaks and troughs in the temperature. Furthermore, the package contains desiccants to reduce the moisture content in the container and data recorders that check the temperature, humidity and dew point temperature in the container.

Containing Moisture Risks

During previous tests, the humidity in the container rose sharply. The cause of the increase could be traced back to the moisture content in the wooden packaging. The advice is to let the moisture content of pallets or wooden packaging be a maximum of 15%. If this is higher, this moisture will be released during transport and will accumulate in the container. The result is that this moisture can return on the products in the form of container rain.

The wooden packaging is checked with a wood moisture meter. If it turns out that no wood is available that contains less than 15% moisture; the wood is packed. This way, the moisture remains in the packaging and cannot get into the container. For extra protection, the countersunk steel can also be passivated.

Adding Extra Protection

The passivation of steel is a surface treatment that provides the steel with additional corrosion protection.

Applying The Praxas Container Pack

Before loading the container, the container liner is installed. The horse boxes are stacked to the ceiling and secured with the hooks of the container. A total of 23,700 kg of steel goes into the container. On top of or between the boxes, the supplied desiccants are placed. And a data recorder in the front and back of the container to show that the conditions in the container were good during transport.

Achieving The Perfect Condition

Upon arrival in America, the goods have arrived in perfect condition, and the horse boxes can be installed immediately. In this way, a lot of time is saved for repairing damage and the construction of the horse boxes is not delayed.

Implementing the Praxas Container Pack proved to be an effective solution for Smulders, aiding in their transportation needs and preventing risks along the way.