The IBC’s cubic shape makes an excellent impression with its efficient space utilization in storage and transport. Well-considered designs, such as deep-drawn, bottom section with low dead space volumes, enable them to be emptied quickly and residue free.

In addition, stainless steel IBCs guarantee a long service life and are fully recyclable afterwards. All these benefits and features are combined in the stackable Schäfer Cube. ADR certified and with UN 31 A/Y approval for the transport of hazardous goods up to 2 kg/liter, this IBC is considered especially flexible. That’s why Spanish chemicals distributor Brugués uses this container for business with their large-scale customers.

Challenges in Changing Times
Brugués, a Spanish family enterprise, based in Barcelona and Valencia is a specialist distributor of base and special chemicals, it serves over 2,000 customers in a great variety of industries. The company supplies national and international companies in the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries, water supply and other sectors.

Chemicals distributors are faced by many and varied challenges. Apart from safety and sustainability, it is the actual business figures which are the be-all and end-all in this sector. The initial focus of the business lay in the sale, packaging and distribution of chemical products in plastic containers of various volumes, ranging from 25 to 1,000 liters.

For the increasing volumes it handles, especially for their major customers, the Spanish enterprise has showed a clear preference for the so-called Cube from Schäfer IBC with a capacity of 1,000 liters. The design and lightweight structure of these containers make them ideal for almost all requirements of the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paints and oil industries, especially when hazardous substances need to be transported.

Besides storage, packaging and logistics for liquid and solid materials, chemicals distributors standard service range also includes specialized packaging for a variety of dangerous chemicals. In the hazardous goods sector, certified stainless steel containers are an ever present feature.

Integration in Existing Infrastructure
Schäfer Cubes are made completely of stainless steel, are stackable and suitable for handling by crane and forklift and can be cleaned without leaving any residues. Their frameless lightweight design gives the containers maximum flexibility for use and optimum space utilization. They are manufactured in volume increments of 100 from 500 to 1,000 liters.

At the end of their long service lives, often lasting over decades, they are 100% recyclable, making them a genuine ecological product in the industrial container segment in terms of sustainability. A further benefit is that these cubes can be used on Brugués existing filling lines for plastic IBCs without any modification to the existing infrastructure.

The fire-resistant Schäfer Cube complies with high safety requirements and is internationally approved for the storage and transport of hazardous liquids and paste-like goods on land and by sea: with certified ADR, RID, IMDG Code, UN and EC regulation conformity, this container fulfils all required safety standards.

Consequently, use in potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX) or for the transport of highly inflammable chemicals substances is legally permitted.
The extension of the company’s internal transport, conveying and filing technology was more or less completed with the purchase of this special stainless steel IBC. Now they are used in the chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and oil industries, where the long-lasting robustness of these IBCs is particularly appreciated over conventional plastic IBCs.