Dock bridges serve it up at Bacardi
The mix master's Florida distribution center went with dock bridges for their durability and ease of installation and use.
By Noel P. Bodenburg, Managing Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2007
Bacardi’s Jacksonville, Fla., distribution center receives pallet loads of rum bottled in Puerto Rico for U.S. distribution. But getting the heavy loads over the edge-of-dock levelers was difficult. The ridge on the platform often caused the lift trucks unloading the pallets to get hung up. Furthermore, the weight of the loads was actually causing levelers to detach from the dock wall.
“We have been in this building going on five years and got tired of living with the edge-of-dock levelers,” says Will Nolan, warehouse manager for Bacardi. In fact, damaged dock positions were hurting productivity as trucks waited for dock doors to become available.
To solve the problem, conventional pit-style dock levelers were evaluated. But since Bacardi was leasing space, the company had to consider options that would not require digging, forming and pouring concrete required by pit-style levelers.
Instead, the company selected modular dock bridges (4Front Engineered Solutions, 866-696-2464) that install with four bolts that anchor to the warehouse floor and eight that secure the bumper assembly to the dock wall. In addition, the modular dock bridges are durable and offer easy access to docks.
The bridges also store vertically. Upright storage provides a barrier for the dock doors against lift truck collisions and protects against damage to dock seals. The design also enhances security since the overhead doors close tight against the floor.
A step on the side-mounted foot pedal of the bridges and a slight push starts the platform downward to the truck floor. The lip positions for end loading using the operating handle.
When the truck is ready to pull away, the worker draws the operating handle toward his body to raise the platform using only 38 pounds of force.
Because of the reduced degree of grade, the bridge even provides easier truck access than the original levelers. Bacardi has been able to use the 7-foot-wide dock platform on the 8-foot-wide dock doorway since the truck doors are opened prior to the trailer backing up to the door.
Even though the bridges will remain at the facility when Bacardi moves to a new location in a few years, Nolan says they plan to install new ones when they relocate.
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