Lift Trucks: Low-level orderpicker enables picking at 120 inches

As one of the largest privately owned wholesale distributors of natural and organic products in the United States, Nature’s Best delivers grocery, refrigerated, frozen, bulk, supplements, personal care, herbs, medicinal and pet products to retailers throughout the Western, Central and Southern regions of the United States, as well as Hawaii, Alaska and Asia.

Threatened with a costly warehouse expansion to house its growing business, the company sought to accommodate more SKUs without increasing its footprint or compromising throughput. After deploying new lift trucks including a multi-level order selector, the company added 33% to 45% more pick positions and decreased operating costs by 25%.

The lift truck uses an elevating platform to enable picking at heights of 120 inches. The strategy placed slower-moving SKUs above faster-moving items, allowing more frequently picked items to be in the most accessible locations. Brian McCarthy, senior vice president of operations at Nature’s Best, says the solution creates a one-touch system for the 6- to 10-foot pick zone while consolidating and elevating slow-movers. The system now achieves the new productivity goal of 144 cases per hour.

“Most conventional pallet trucks would only allow us to slot from concrete to 6 feet,” McCarthy says. “We have nearly doubled the accessible space in our cooler and freezer areas.”

Operators now pick from multiple levels and often build the entire order within the same aisle, eliminating unnecessary product touches and travel time. To date, the facility has decreased operating costs by 25% and saved more than $500,000 by minimizing the amount of steel racking needed. Nature’s Best requires seven fewer operators and lift trucks, which is expected to save the company $2 million in labor over the next five years.

Yale Materials Handling Corp.
800-233-9253
yale.com