06 October 2023

"With the wheel gripper, you are fit and healthy when you go home in the evening."

Reference: Bildeve

Bildeve is the car dealer, workshop and tire hotel that cares about safe car ownership for its customers. But the company also understands the importance of keeping its employees safe and healthy. The goal is to become Sweden's most ergonomic tire workshop.

Car dealers who care about the working environment

The car dealership Bildeve has locations in three different cities in Sweden: Helsingborg, Höganäs, and Landskrona. The company has over employees who handle everything from maintenance and repairs to wheel changes and tire storage.

Many of the lifts involved in servicing cars can be both heavy and, not least, unergonomic. In the wheel wash, staff lifted tires as often as 300-400 times a day, leading to fatigue and wear. Bildeve wanted to change that.

"The work environment is close to Bildeve's heart. We try to avoid all heavy lifting that exists. This applies to all workstations in the company," says Patrik Fisch, who works as head of the tire business area.

"Before we got the lifting tool, the staff manually lifted wheels of 20-25 kilos into the washing machine. This meant both heavy lifting and turning. Of course, the staff got tired. They had to be replaced because it was so heavy and not all employees were able to do it."

One person can do the job alone

Bildeve decided to invest in a wheel gripper, a lifting tool that lifts wheels and tires up to 40 kilos from lying on a trolley to standing in a rack, and then back. The lifting tool is neat and quick to use. And it almost completely takes the weight off the user.

"Now a person can stand and do the job all day without getting out of shape. It doesn't matter what your body looks like, everyone can lift and set up wheels. Big or small, woman or man."

Patrik describes a marked change in the well-being of the staff after the lifting tool was introduced both in the tire hotel and in the tire workshop.

"The difference is huge! Before, staff might oversleep because they were so tired after the day and maybe even had back pain. With the wheel lift, when you go home in the evening, you are fit and healthy. This means that you wake up the next day refreshed, feeling good and able to go to work."

Investing in lifting equipment is part of a larger goal for the company.

"Our goal was to become Sweden's most ergonomic tire workshop in all aspects. I think we've come a long way with the help of this lifting tool." says Patrik.