Upward expansion promotes productivity and safety

Royal Basket Trucks, based in Darien, Wisc., is a manufacturer of basket trucks and specialty laundry carts. Company president Thomas Carney sought to increase the company’s production rates to better meet growing customer demand. Having considered adding a new wing that could take six months to complete, the company instead installed a new work platform and vertical reciprocating conveyor (VRC; Wildeck, wildeck.com) in just a few weeks.

“We converted 6,000 square feet of totally unused space into a productive work area,” Carney says. “Once we considered the alternative, a 12,000-square-foot building addition for about $500,000, the decision was easy—go for the work platform.”

Before the project, the facility’s full welding and industrial sewing departments were intended to produce orders on a short timeline, since every product is made to order. However, the distance between the welding and sewing departments hampered productivity. The new 40 x 120-foot work platform is used for production, and materials and other supplies are stored underneath it. The VRC moves materials back and forth between the ground and upper level.

The work platform now houses four sewing machines, shelving and other production equipment, all of which are operated by about 20 employees at any given time. Workers access the work platform using a structural steel staircase, while the VRC carries only materials.

“We took the product transfer flow from a distance of about 75 feet and reduced it to virtually nothing,” Carney says. “The VRC is ideal because it now takes raw materials up to the workers and brings finished products back down. And because there are forklifts and carts moving around the lower level, the danger of someone being struck is greatly minimized.”