Castlecool, the temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company, has increased storage space at its Castleblayney facility after taking delivery of an Aisle-Master articulated forklift.
The independent Irish company operates from three sites in the North East of the country offering a range of service such as chilled, frozen and ambient storage, blast freezing, quality testing and food sampling.
Castlecool previously used reach trucks to service the racking in the 200,000 sq ft warehouse in Castleblayney, but the change has enabled aisle widths to be cut, increasing storage capacity by 25 per cent.
Prior to the truck being delivered Paul Shortt, managing director of Castlecool, used Aisle-Master’s free site survey and warehouse layout service which demonstrated the company would be able to operate in 30 per cent narrower aisles and achieve better pallet density.
Shortt says: “The costs incurred per square foot in cold stores make space saving absolutely crucial to productive operations and as we had experience of an Aisle-Master at another site we were keen to adopt this system at the Castleblayney facility.
“It was some time ago since we acquired the original machine so we trialled the major brands of articulated trucks on the market, but found that the Aisle-Master still outperforms the competition, particularly in terms of reliability.”
As the truck is able to work inside and outside, Castlecool has also been much quicker loading and offloading times, speeding up operations all round. Additionally, the company can offload HGVs from both sides which is proving beneficial, especially when the company is working at full capacity at peaks times.
Shortt adds: “The Aisle-Masters have such a good track record of dependability that we can operate in full confidence without back up trucks in place. If there is an issue – which is rare, the response from the service department is so quick that this can be resolved with the minimum of delay.”
A 20SE AC electric-powered Aisle-Master fitted with an 8m customised mast was specified as the most suitable model for the Castleblayney site.
The cold store environment can be unforgiving on equipment and can drain batteries quickly, but Castlecool says the batteries fitted are more than powerful enough to counteract this, and other cold-store specific features have been incorporated to ensure streamlined operation throughout long shifts in temperatures of around minus 22 degrees.
