Bucher Municipal

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Bucher Municipal has been able to increase output with new workflows removing previous bottlenecks and allowing parts to move at a steadier, faster pace.

Date: April 2024

Project Background

Bucher Municipal is a global manufacturer of industry-leading municipal equipment and has been operating for more than 200 years, originating from a small blacksmith shop in Switzerland in 1807. Today, the company is part of Bucher Industries and operates across 19 sites with approximately 2,500 employees and more than 180 service centres worldwide. Their commitment to innovation and sustainability has positioned them as a trusted supplier of street-cleaning and road-maintenance machinery for councils and contractors around the world.

Maintaining a consistent supply of spare parts is critical to supporting their customers and protecting their reputation for reliability. The company’s existing carousel storage machines, which had been in service for many years, were becoming increasingly unreliable and prone to failure. As these ageing units slowed down and required full rotation cycles to present items, picking speed and operational efficiency were adversely affected.

As a professional organisation focused on minimising operational risk, Bucher Municipal recognised the need to modernise their parts-storage system. They sought a more reliable, space-efficient, and locally supported solution to prevent unexpected breakdowns and ensure uninterrupted parts availability for their nationwide customer base. With their long-standing reputation at stake, upgrading their storage technology became essential.

Project Details

Constraints

The primary constraint affecting the project was the condition of the existing carousel storage machines. These units were ageing, increasingly unreliable, and prone to mechanical failure. Their design required full rotational movement to present items, which resulted in slow picking cycles and created unavoidable delays in accessing parts.

Because the machines were nearing end-of-life, maintenance demands were rising while operational dependability was decreasing. This introduced a significant operational risk, as any unplanned downtime could impact Bucher Municipal’s ability to supply critical spare parts to customers.

The storage technology itself also limited efficiency, as the carousel format offered less flexibility and slower access compared to modern vertical stacker systems. These constraints collectively made the existing setup unsuitable for the company’s service expectations, driving the need for replacement with a more reliable, responsive, and efficient solution.

Implementation

The implementation was carried out over a focused two-week installation window, during which the equipment was commissioned and brought online without disrupting ongoing operations.

As part of the rollout, the system was integrated directly into the new Microsoft Dynamics ERP platform, enabling live data flow and seamless production tracking from day one.

Once the system was operational, comprehensive on-site training was delivered to staff, ensuring everyone was confident in using the new equipment and fully prepared to operate and maintain it as part of daily workflows.

Results

The results were quickly visible once the system went live. Output increased as the new workflow removed previous bottlenecks, allowing parts to move through the process at a steadier, faster pace.

Picking times dropped significantly, with operators able to locate and handle items far more efficiently than before. Alongside the speed improvements came a noticeable lift in accuracy and overall quality, as the automated handling reduced manual errors and ensured each part was presented and processed consistently.