Next-level cold storage efficiencies

Taking things to the next level in cold storage not only means having enough capacity to meet expanding needs of customers, but also using automation to gain efficiencies. Since Merchandise Warehouse, a logistics provider of multi-temperature warehouse services, follows the motto, “take it to the next level,” it’s not surprising the company sought to improve on both space utilization as well as labor and material flow efficiencies, when it improved its cold storage infrastructure.

Merchandise Warehouse was started in 1951 as a 50,000-square-foot dry warehouse and office building in Indianapolis, Ind. This location puts its facility at an intersection of interstate access, intermodal rail facilities, public and private ports and a FedEx hub, making it an ideal location for a company that specializes in logistics for the food, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries. Merchandise Warehouse currently uses this location as a hub for receiving, storing and sending product for its customers.

Today, the third-generation, family-owned warehouse has increased its facility size by eight times since its beginning, now with more than 400,000 square feet of cooler and freezer space. The improved facility now features a pallet shuttle system (Raymond) with induction of pallets by lift trucks, automated de-spacing, a pallet wrapping station and conveyors.

Traditional racking had been working for the company, but just a few years ago continued growth had the facility busting at its seams with product, and the company’s customers were wanting even more room. One of the company’s largest customers was growing rapidly and forecasting a significant increase in warehousing needs. Traditional warehouse operations and racking may have been working but wouldn’t help them get ahead of even more growth.

“We’re always trying to be bigger, faster and stronger, and are looking for the latest and greatest tools that will help us achieve that,” says Tyler Carlson, president and chief operating officer at Merchandise Warehouse. “When we were facing even more rapid growth, we saw it as an opportunity to find and implement those latest solutions that were revolutionary in the industry.”

Merchandise Warehouse had a long-standing relationship with Raymond and Associated, an authorized Raymond Sales and Service Center, and began with these two suppliers to devise a solution.

“We have a lot of loyal Raymond fans in our warehouse, so we already had a great foundation for getting our team on board with new technologies,” says Scott Whiting, former vice president and general manager at Merchandise Warehouse.

Merchandise Warehouse worked with Associated to assess current operations and systems, discover new technologies for high density pallet storage and retrieval, and determine a plan. They went with a high-density, deep lane racking and a pallet shuttle system from Raymond called Radioshuttle, both designed for cold storage.

“When we started looking at the options for upgrading our warehouse, it was obvious that RadioShuttle had great expertise in the deep lane shuttle market and had perfected this process,” says Carlson.

The pallet shuttle creates additional capacity and pallet positions, while also helping store and pick product faster. It’s efficient, yet has fewer opportunities for product damage on account of fewer touches required to move product. While the shuttle system moves pallets through its racking, the operator—typically using a reach truck—is free to do other work.

The reduction in product touches was furthered with the integration of three conveyor systems: one moves product from the blast freezer through a de-spacing operation onto staging for lift truck put-away in the shuttle storage system, and two others take product from the shuttle storage freezer and stage it for truck loading. Important for efficiency, when a lift truck operator needs to interact with the shuttle, it’s done with a remote-control module on the lift truck, rather than having to dismount to hit a fixed operator panel.

“Working with Associated and Raymond was ideal,” says Carlson. “Together, they were able to optimize the racking solutions for us and ensure our specific needs related to cold storage were met. The companies worked together through the entire process, and in doing so, we were able to optimize our entire warehouse. We started seeing results faster than we even expected. We were seeing results in the first two months.”

Merchandise Warehouse added more than 14,000 more pallet positions with the new solutions, and in doing so, was able to keep staffing levels the same. “Overall, the warehouse was more efficient—44% more efficient,” says Whiting. “What used to take seven man-hours to move product through the warehouse now takes about four. And what used to take 12 touches from receiving to shipping now only takes six. Fewer required touches means less opportunity for product damage.”

Overall, the pallet shuttle solution created more storage capacity, and nearly doubled efficiencies. “It’s remarkable to see the improvements with the help of Radioshuttle and the new racking,” says Carlson. “We couldn’t have asked for a better experience or results.”