The Real Yorkshire Pudding Company – drive in racking for chiller area

The challenge

The Real Yorkshire Pudding Company had a problem – they needed to achieve a very specific target pallet count whilst working with a very limited space. Whilst they had a existing supplier that had looked after them in other areas of their warehouse, the client had grown frustrated with this supplier as they were reluctant to carry out any repairs or general up keep on an ongoing basis.

The solution

During our initial conversations we suggested that they consider a drive-in pallet racking system, deemed the best solution for this client as it allowed them to fully optimise their storage space.

A drive-in racking system works as a block and has separate lanes that you can drive a forklift into in order to retrieve a pallet. This works best when each lane or the whole system is storing the same product as it is classed as a LIFO (Last In First Out) solution. In other words, you cannot retrieve the first pallet until all pallets in front of it have been removed.

The outcome

One particular challenge that was experienced during this project was that the working area was situated within a fully operational chiller. The chiller was also a passage for the forklifts entering and leaving the freezer meaning that there was a great deal of traffic throughout the build. We also had to compromise with the client, arranging to work weekends as this was their quietest time. By doing this we were able to guarantee the least amount of downtime for the client.

Due to the nature of the site and the industry, full PPE was worn throughout, including hair and beard nets.