A HIGHER STANDARD

ANTHONY COIA

Even more than the store, the retail warehouse is a rugged place, where tons of product get moved around every day. In such an environment, many demands are placed on equipment and personnel, requiring that both be up to snuff. Retailers are therefore investing in better training and more up-to-date equipment to enable the distribution center to operate smoothly.

These days it's not enough that the equipment used in the DC -- such as forklifts, pallet trucks, doors, plastic containers or even automated picking -- work effectively; it has to meet an increasingly higher standard. That standard encompasses such qualities as safety, employee comfort (ergonomics), ease of use, flexibility and low maintenance.

In this special section, SN looks at some of the newer DC equipment attempting to meet that standard.

Warehouse Wheels

Think of warehouses, and the equipment that often comes to mind is the forklift or walkie pallet truck used to unload, load and transport goods. Raymond Corp., Greene, N.Y., has put a lot of design innovation into its new walkie pallet truck, model 102XM, unveiled in October. Because it is small and maneuverable, with shorter pointed ends for tight turns, the new walkie truck is particularly useful in loading or unloading shipments inside trailers, said Edgar Warriner, Raymond's director of national and major accounts services.

This feature will come in handy next month when the Department of Transportation's new Hours-of-Service rules governing trucker work hours take effect, noted Warriner. The rules will limit drivers to 10 hours maximum before a break is required, instead of the previous 14. "Since truckers will have a higher premium in moving goods, more efficient equipment is a solution," he said.

Because ergonomic design is also a major objective for Raymond, the 102XM features finger depressions on the steering panel, allowing users to operate it by feel if necessary in unlighted trailers.

Another supplier of walkie pallet trucks, Yale Materials Handling, Greenville, N.C., has upgraded its MPB line this year to include an electronic brake that improves operability, said Lou Micheletto, warehouse product manager. The MPB also avoids dislodging a load unintentionally and offers improved handle configuration including an oversize emergency button.

"Retail warehouses tend to have a lot of turnover among equipment operators and the depth of training in safe operations is not as intense," said Micheletto. "Therefore, [retailers] have had to take on more responsibility in finding the most suitable equipment."

As for forklifts, one of Raymond's new-breed units, the AC Reach Fork, uses an AC (alternating current) motor design; this is considered more efficient than the DC (direct current) technology that is the industry standard, said Warriner. The AC motor, he said, lengthens the time between battery changes.

Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y., is an early user of the AC Reach Fork. Dan Rucinski, the chain's material handling equipment supervisor, said Price Chopper employs the AC Reach Fork at its grocery/perishables facility as well as at two freezer locations.

The biggest advantage of this vehicle, Rucinski said, is that it has a lot fewer parts than the DC version, such as motor brushes and contact tips, helping to reduce maintenance costs. "We were expecting about 20% longer run time with the new AC motor technology," he said. "It may not be 20%, but it has improved, and changing battery brands has also helped." Overall, he finds the AC technology "much more reliable than the DC technology."

Yale is planning to launch a new, model NTA forklift in the first quarter of 2004 that can operate within a narrow aisle environment of 66 inches, said Micheletto. But more significantly, the NTA connects with a power rail in the aisle, maintaining a truck's battery at full charge, though it can run on battery if necessary. The NTA is best used in a freezer environment, he noted. "Lower temperatures, such as that of a freezer, decelerate the battery power, so you have to change batteries more often. This eliminates the need to change batteries."

Keeping Doors on Track

One of the grocery warehouse's most abused parts is the dock door, with its constant up-and-down motion inevitably leading to damage followed by costly repairs. Thus, door manufacturers are focusing on putting more flexibility into their products.

For example, this fall DL Manufacturing, Syracuse, N.Y., introduced the MxV flexible insulated dock door, also known as a knock-out dock door. Don Metz, the company's president, explained that the MxV contains no hinges or hardware, and is made from all-extruded polymer panels. "There are no springs or rollers," he said. "A brush guides it up and down the track." Because both the brushes and panels flex, the door can be reset when dislodged.

An early user of the new door is C&S Wholesale Grocers, Brattleboro, Vt., whose Westfield, Mass., DC had it installed in November. "We wanted a door that would stand up to serious abuse," said Jim Spence, building maintenance lead manager. "The user is concerned with the product they are moving, not the door." After testing it rigorously and trying to damage it, C&S found "the knock-out feature works well," he said.

Spence said C&S expects the MxV door to help in other ways. For example, C&S's Westfield freezer warehouse has been spending too many labor-hours trying to keep weather elements out of the facility. "If the door is not able to seal properly, a draft enters in the summer," he explained. "This creates fog and vapor that sticks to the doors leading into the freezer, forming ice and snow." Though it has not been tested yet, the MxV looks as if it will address that issue in the summer, he said.

Easier Picking

Since labor is the biggest cost factor in warehouses, some distributors, especially of health and beauty items, are investing in automated storage and retrieval systems to move goods to and from storage areas. Alternately, others are installing manually configured carton flow systems.

About a year ago, UNEX, Jackson, N.J., which manufactures carton flow systems, introduced the Span-Track 3D system, its next-generation system. "This equipment can go unsupported for longer spans and still maintain a capacity of 50 pounds per foot," said Pete Rice, vice president of sales. The Span-Track 3D, he explained, does not need to be supported by an "intermediate beam," whereas with the standard Span-Track requires it.

"Dynamic" carton flow systems benefit distributors, Rice said, by reducing labor, increasing orders picked per shift, as well as improving picking accuracy. He cited studies showing that dynamic storage systems enable picking of 24% more stockkeeping units per bay, and a 29% increase in pick rate, compared with static (shelf or pallet) storage.

Natural Foods handles 2,200 SKUs under its own brand as well as 1,200 others.

Natural Foods uses Span-Track 3D at its remote DCs, such as one in Sparks, Nev. Because the Sparks warehouse has about 15% the velocity of the main DC in Bloomingdale, it does not need the middle beam for extra support, according to Emme. Emme said its warehouses "re-profile" frequently, so it needs to reset the pick module easily. To this end, "Span-Track is flexible, easy to change and durable," he said. "Other typical pick modules involve six steps to prepare, but Span-Track takes only two steps to readjust."

He also observed that the system can be converted from a pallet location to carton flow in 20 minutes -- flexibility not afforded by other systems.

Automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), which present items to a picker automatically as requested, are beginning to be adopted in U.S. DCs by retailers like Kroger and CVS. Both companies are using the services of Witron Integrated Logistics Corp., Arlington Heights, Ill., which designs and implements these automated systems. The systems are designed to run the DC with less labor, in a smaller footprint, said Helmut Prieschenk, chief executive officer, of Witron's German parent company.

Witron recently announced that CVS, Woonsocket, R.I., had completed the installation of all tote and pallet cranes at a 350,000-square-foot DC in Ennis, Texas, it is planning to open in the third quarter of 2004 to serve its new market in Texas. The DC will use Witron's Dynamic Picking System as well as its Car Picking System, the first DC in North America to use both, said Witron.

Kevin Smith, senior vice president, supply chain and logistics, at CVS, said the new DC will be half the footprint of a conventional DC and one-third of the labor. "We are aiming to improve accuracy and productivity," he said. "And we are creating an attractive work environment that is less labor intensive." He pointed out that 70% of the labor time is spent moving goods from place to place. By contrast, the new DC will employ a "goods-to-person system," said Smith.

Because 70% of the items going out of the DC are eaches, workers would conventionally go on a fairly long run to pick them, Smith said. "With the new picking technology, people will not have to travel far. Items will come to them or be at arm's length. This system is also being designed with a high degree of ergonomic awareness."

Handy Containers

Grocery warehouses have been using returnable containers for some time, but demand may be growing for longer-lasting models, said Eric Fredricksen, market manager-material handling, for IPL, Worcester, Mass., which makes plastic containers.

To that end, IPL last year introduced the FlapNest container line for less-than-caseload dry goods. The container is "a perfect increment of a pallet" so that it can be stacked perfectly on a standard pallet. "It needs to be able to be moved in and out of doors easily," he said.

One FlapNest user is Bozzuto's, a food distributor based in Cheshire, Conn., which has been using FlapNest for cigarettes since mid-2002. "We were looking for a container with nesting capabilities that was easy to use," said Mike Frappier, grocery operations manager, Bozzuto's. "The FlapNest has worked out well, and the greatest advantage is the nesting capabilities, which save space on return trailers."

On the produce side, IPL offers the SmartCrate, which can be used for shipping fresh fruits and vegetables from the grower to the DC to the store. This container is an example of "the trend over the past three to four years toward returnable plastic containers, which are continuing to gain a lot of ground," said Fredricksen. "RPCs make it easier to build a mixed load at a DC."

The SmartCrate, Fredricksen added, "arrives in better condition, protects better and cools better than corrugated, and it is display-ready."

Baby, It's Cold Inside

Considering that the temperature in a food warehouse can range from 50 degrees down to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, an important equipment requirement is warm clothing for employees. One company that specializes in supplying this clothing is RefrigiWear, Dahlonega, Ga.

One of RefrigiWear's clothing lines, Chill Breaker, consists of jackets, parkas, overalls and vests designed for temperatures ranging from zero to 50 degrees. In January, the company introduced the Industrial Fleece jacket, which workers in supermarket or distribution center coolers can use on its own or for layering. Ron Breakstone, RefrigiWear's president and owner, said that fleece has an advantage over quilted clothing in that it is more flexible and easier to work with in cold environments. "It is easily layerable, comfortable and less bulky," he said.

Also for the cold environment, especially meat coolers, a new thermal high-bib CoolerWear line of jackets, trousers, bibs and vests was introduced this month. "Workers at DCs with a high activity level need a lot of upper body freedom," said Breakstone. "With this clothing, employees may spend all day long in 35- to 45-degree temperatures, such as that in produce rooms or meat-processing rooms. Before introducing this line, we offered trousers, but it was difficult to put on boots over them."

For DCs, RefrigiWear's main clothing line is called Iron-Tuff, designed to be heavy-duty for the extreme cold. In the boot and footwear category, the company has increased its leather line by 30% over the past two years. The Waterproof Hiker, RefrigiWear's newest boot, offers waterproof protection as well as a comfort rating of minus 10 degrees (it's good to that temperature), according to Kristy Chriscinske, marketing manager. This boot features an oil resistant rubber outsole, and a reinforced toe cover for durability.