In the competitive produce marketplace, freshness is key. No one understands this better than Fresh Express, a leader in the packaged salad category.

For more than 70 years, the efforts of this company have been directed toward providing customers with the highest-quality produce as possible.

The company's success hinges upon innovative thinking, well-planned growth, and an efficient production process.

In 1989, the company pioneered the retail packaged salad category. It introduced the first garden salad prepackaged in a patented Keep-Crisp bag.

As demand has grown for fresh packaged salads, the Salinas, Calif.-based company has continued to ensure product quality through systematic expansion of its processing capabilities. Today, the company has five production facilities strategically located nationwide to facilitate regional distribution.

Forklifts fit squarely into that processing equation for helping ship a greater quantity of high quality produce.

The 187,000 sq ft West Plant in Salinas leases 60 forklifts - all of one brand - from a Northern California dealer. Included are electric forklifts with a 6,000-lb load capacity and three-wheel cushion and pneumatic lift trucks with 3,000 or 3,500-lb capacities.

Operations at this facility are kept as efficient as possible. A loading crew of 40 ships out nearly 90,000 cases of packaged salad products each day, an amount that is well above the national industry average of 70,000 to 80,000 cases daily.

"I've used (this brand of) forklifts since we opened our facility in 1994," says West Plant general manager Bryan Aguirre. "They're reliable, and they work well in our plant. They're also very easy for our employees to use, even in our busy, fast-paced environment."

Because routine maintenance is just as important as quality equipment when it comes to operating efficiency, the forklift dealer leasing the vehicles services the West Plant lift trucks on a rotating basis. Half of the fleet of 60 vehicles is checked each month. Such dependable service has kept Fresh Express as a customer for this brand for almost 10 years.

The customer service representative for this brand of forklifts, explains Mike Johnson, West Plant distribution manager, "works closely with us and is an asset to our team. He always tries to meet our needs, and when issues arise, he follows through on our behalf."

West Plant general manager Aguirre agrees. This forklift manufacturer, he says, "is the kind of company we like to do business with because of the reliable equipment and customer service. Our partnership with them allows us to focus on moving cases through the warehouse instead of worrying about our equipment."

Recently, the partnership between Fresh Express and its forklift supplier faced a test: Fresh Express president Mark Dever challenged the West Plant crew. Could it further increase efficiency, and move 120,000 cases through the warehouse in a single day?

The answer was a resounding "yes!" On April 6, 2001, the crew received an engraved award for shipping an astounding 131,069 cases a day, nearly double the national average.

Toyota Material Handling, USA
800-226-0009
www.toyotaforklift.com