For more than 30 years, WISA-Trans birch plywood has been a flooring favourite among vehicle manufacturers, thanks to its strength and long-lived, wear-resistant coating. Now, the WISA-Trans pattern has been updated under the name WISA-Trans Mk2. The technical performance remains the same.
“The old WISA-Trans pattern has been widely copied. The new pattern makes it easier to recognise that a vehicle floor is made using original WISA-Trans, guaranteed to be strong and durable,” says UPM Plywood Sales Manager in the UK Andrew Jackson.
“WISA-Trans is all we want to fit”
The modernised WISA-Trans is launched this summer, and UK and Ireland’s largest semi-trailer manufacturer SDC Trailers will be the first to fit the new flooring panels.
Group President Paul Bratton is happy to be part of the launch and calls WISA-Trans “the product for the market.”
WISA-Trans has been SDC’s preferred flooring in its trailers since the panel was launched in the 1990s.
“We use WISA-Truck, WISA-Truck Plus or WISA-Wire depending on the operation that the trailers are going to. But by and large, WISA-Trans is our standard product. That's all we want to fit – for sustainability reasons and because of its technical properties, durability and the excellent support that UPM provides us with,” says Bratton.
New pattern helps recognise original WISA quality
Even though sustainability and technical performance come first, the look of the pattern does matter.
“We benefit from the new pattern because it shows our customers that we are using the original WISA-Trans product and not some charlatan’s cheap imitation,” stresses Bratton.
Getting used to another pattern on a well-known product does however take some adaptation, he notes.
“Everybody is used to opening the trailer doors and seeing that certain WISA-Trans pattern. Now, they’ll ask, ‘What’s that’? But when they hear it’s the new WISA-Trans, they go ‘Oh, that’s OK then!”
Fresh look, same performance
With its modern pattern, the new WISA-Trans Mk2 looks like a different product. The panel has, however, the same technical and strength performance as WISA-Trans has had since the 1990s.
To SDC’s Paul Bratton, this is extremely important.
“The product goes through the same processes to give people the comfort that it's going to work in the same efficient way and have the longevity that the product has always had.”