Lab Move Client – Henkel
Lab Move Location – Henkel Lab, Alewife Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lab Move Destinations – Henkel, Madison Heights, Michigan; Henkel, Seabrook, New Hampshire
Lab Move Timetable – June – July 2021
Who hasn’t opened a canned beverage and heard that distinctive sound of freshness, particularly when it’s a carbonated drink? Henkel is an international company based in Dusseldorf, Germany that’s responsible for the sealant placed in many of those aluminum cans that makes that magical sound. BTI recently had the honor of moving the machines that keep our drinks fresh and subsequently supply a refreshing sound effect.
Those machines were part of a relocation of Henkel’s research and development teams from Cambridge to two separate Henkel locations: one to Madison Heights, Michigan and the other to Seabrook, New Hampshire.
Move 1:
The first move to Michigan involved the largest machine, which weighed in at 5,000 pounds. Transporting it from the second floor to the truck would require disassembly into smaller sections so it would be light enough to take the elevator. Once to the loading dock, it would need to be re-assembled and then hoisted onto a pallet and packed onto the 53-foot, 18-wheeler making the drive to Michigan.
In addition to the 5,000-pound piece of equipment, the move included the relocation of a wide range of lab pieces, including all sorts of engineering tools used to make the sealant. These tools were benchtop size and required careful packing. Additionally, there were ovens, vacuum chambers and other expensive equipment that required customized crating.
The load-up took place on June 23 and arrived in Michigan on the following Monday. The unload took a similar course as the load. The shipment was delivered to Henkel’s Warehouse in Madison Heights, with the team at Henkel providing the labor and forklifts to offload the heavy equipment onto their dock.
Move 2:
The second phase of the relocation took place July 22-23. Utilizing three 26-foot trucks, BTI moved the rest of Henkel’s research and development lab to the Henkel warehouse and lab, a location in Seabrook, New Hampshire.
One of the bigger challenges of this lab relocation was moving another large piece of equipment, which Henkel calls #2, which weighed in at 2,000 pounds. This delivery was made at ground level and needed to go over a pad. This move also required the piece of equipment to be hoisted and put on a pallet, similar to the 5,000-pound piece of equipment.
The other challenge to this move was space. The new research and development lab was 2,000 square feet. The items being moved were taken from an 8,000 square-foot lab. Fitting 8,000 square feet of stuff into a 2,000 square-foot space was a challenge, one that BTI met.
John Stankiewicz, director product development for Henkel Adhesive Technologies had the following comments on the lab relocations:
“Having never been through a lab relocation before, I did not know what I was in for. George and I walked around the lab, he asked questions—in some cases, he told me the answers. Based on that survey, he developed a quote and plan of action. BTI held to the quote and budget and the move was handled in a very professional way.”
“As a lab manager, one thing that I really appreciated is that BTI planned and executed the packing and the loading portion of the move so that my team could work as long as it possibly could…The things that really stood out for me from the experience was George’s knowledge of what to do with every single thing in the lab—drawers, glassware, calibrated instrumentation, heavy equipment, etc. He has a very customer-centric approach and there was communication throughout the process…I’m so glad we worked with BTI on this move. As a lab manager who has not been part of relocation, I’m certain there were some things I would have learned the hard way. In working with George and the BTI team, there was no learning curve. We were working with pros.”
