Loading Dock Products Help Distribution Center Improve Efficiency and Safety

The Solo Cup Company (formerly known as The Sweetheart Cup Company) has experienced significant growth over recent years, which led to the construction of new facilities. As part of the expansion Sweetheart/Solo Cup moved their shipping/receiving operations from an enclosed environment on the south side of Chicago to an exposed dock wall at their new facility in University Park, IL. Sweetheart/Solo Cup fully outfitted their new docks with TKO Doors and Serco Dock Products equipment, which helped the distribution center operate with greater efficiency.

“Back when we were at our old plant we handled our trucks within a concourse,” said DC Manager Lino Alcaraz. “Everything stayed nice and dry within the enclosed area.”

Growing to about 20 percent of the disposable cup market, Sweetheart/Solo Cup has experienced a building boom over the past decade, with new operations in Ontario, CA, Hampstead, MA, Andover, MD and suburban Chicago.

“Now that we are working with a dock operation that is exposed to the weather, we had to look at equipment that can handle these conditions,” said Lino.

The old plant had 29 doors to handle a 700,000 square foot plant and warehouse. To handle increased traffic flow the 990,000 square foot University Park facility has 120 doors, including the additional 48 doorways to come with a 644,555 square foot expansion due.

The first issue was the need for exterior doors. The old dock didn’t require them. After consulting with managers from other Sweetheart/Solo Cup facilities, Lino realized dock doors can fall victim to being clipped by forklifts. Every time a forklift passes by or through a door, there is a risk that the vehicle will punch through a panel, bend the door track or rip off the gasket along the bottom.

The most obvious problems are the maintenance and replacement costs. If the door is taken out of action, the DC is faced with the headache of sending the truck to another doorway while waiting for repairs to the damaged door.

Lino was informed that several other Sweetheart facilities utilize TKO knockout dock doors to combat this problem.

Door damage leads to additional costs. Even if the door is not disabled by an impact, the hammering, no matter how slight, results in alignment problems. Operating mechanisms on a dock door are rollers captured in a door guide that wraps around the roller.

A force that bends the guide or the roller can cause the door panels to not match up to the door opening and can lead to HVAC loosing gaps. Moreover the side gaskets are attached along the side of the doorway, exposing them to being torn off by the passing forklift. Even a slight gap can release hundreds of dollars of building heating or cooling energy to the outside per year.

TKO Doors offers a variety of styles. For this building Sweetheart selected the Welterweight knockout door, which is designed for moderate traffic in buildings with numerous doorways.

The panels of the Welterweight door ride on a steels pin which glides along an open groove, heavy-duty plastic track. Should a forklift drive into the door panel or clip the bottom panel with the mast when the door is raised, the pins slide out of the guide. The pins offer no resistance to the blow and the panel simply swings away. A jerk on the panel resets the door and it is ready to open and close.

Because the pins ride loose in the guides and the door panels have a loop gasket, there is always contact between the guide and gasket, providing a barrier to air loss regardless of impact to the panels.

Weather also becomes an issue for truck restraints. A gap or even premature trailer departure can lead to costly injuries and damage to the equipment and product.

At the old enclosed dock wheel chocks kept the trucks in place. However, at the new location the driveway leading up to dock can become slippery with the combination of rain and grease. It also can be difficult to access after a heavy snowfall, making chocks not only ineffective but dangerous.

To solve this problem Sweetheart/Solo Cup installed the Serco hydraulically actuated, recessed SLP trailer restraint. The impact-resistant SLP has a thick metal hook and is installed in a recessed pit under the leveler. When the hook is retracted, the unit offers a clean dock face, allowing unobstructed access to dock doors. The hydraulically activated SLP controls trailer movement by grabbing and holding the rear impact guard (RIG) throughout the loading/unloading process.

The Serco HFC hydraulic leveler also eliminates a share of the maintenance associated with this equipment. This conventional pit-style leveler features Clean-Frame design for easy clean up, weatherseal, grease fittings and control panel with mushroom-style stop button, quick-cycle lip extend and auto return-to-dock.