DHL's Cannock facility supports Unilever brands such as Persil, Domestos, Pot Noodle and PG Tips. Collecting goods from the factories in Port Sunlight and Warrington and shipping them to the Cannock distribution centre.
CHALLENGE
The shuttle distance between the factory and the Cannock warehouse is a 140 mile round trip. The Cannock site has a capacity of 100,00 pallets and needed a quick and efficient way of unloading the trucks.
SOLUTION
20 trailers were fitted with Trailerskate track as part of the loading solution and Trailerskate docking systems installed at the Cannock facility to unload the trailers. This system can unload a load up to 30 tonnes/26 pallets from the tracked trailers in 3 minutes. The skates on the dock are elevated by means of an airbag system located within the skate and then driven into the trailer by means of a drive chain. The trailers are fitted with 4 off simple steel tracks into which the skates run. Once the full load is out of the trailer the air is extracted out of the skates and the load is then lowered on to the dock ready to be moved further inside the warehouse.
OUTCOME
The Cannock site is able to operate efficiently as it turns around the vast quantities of products arriving at the site. The Joloda service team visit the site weekly to complete regular maintenance and cleaning to prevent any problems or breakdowns as the equipment is in constant use.