 A Condor in action |
Third-party logistics provider Innovative Cold Storage Enterprises Inc (ICE) will show off a refrigerated warehouse with advanced high-reach lifting equipment.
ICE says the technology is "the most amazing forklift in use at a cold storage facility-the Condor crane". The North American arm of FKI Logistex Group Ltd was the supplier.
The San Diego-Baja Roundtable discussion group of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals is organising a 19 May tour of ICE's newest San Diego facility, which occupies 132,000 sqft. (11,880 sqm).
ICE opened its original cold storage facility in May 1999 and, about 1.5 mi. (2.4 km) away, began using its newer USD25 million showplace warehouse in March 2009, says Sean Dalu, sales manager. Both are in the city's Otay Mesa neighborhood, a short distance from the Mexican border.
ICE uses six Condor-brand cranes in very narrow aisles to store and retrieve loaded pallets, each weighing up to 1,200 lbs. (540 kg) in a 50 ft. (15-m) -high racking system. Invar Systems Ltd of Cranfield, England supplied pallet movement management software.
A Condor features top-guidance control and a fully enclosed and heated cabin. It has an in-aisle conductor rail to electrify the AC-powered hoist and charge the on-board traction battery. That eliminates the need for a battery changing or charging area and frees floor space.
For other applications, ICE uses seven pallet jacks and five standard forklifts including one to move pallets off slip sheets, Dalu notes.
ICE operates with 6 ft. (1.8 m) -wide aisles. "There is no chance a conventional forklift could get in there and turn around," Dalu observes.
The facility was constructed to meet specifications of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The green measures included water-saving programs, motion-sensor light-emitting-diode lighting, an energy-efficient heavily insulated refrigeration system and solar arrays that generate "80% of the total power" being used in the newer warehouse, Dalu says.
The warehouse is recognised under the LEED gold criteria of the US Green Building Council of Washington, DC, has a food safety rating of superior from AIB International of Manhattan, Kansas and is certified under the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point safety system used by the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture.
The warehouse includes a warm room within the high-bay freezer where technicians can perform crane maintenance functions. The computerised radio frequency inventory control system has electronic data interchange capability.
FKI Logistex of Loughborough, England operates as a subsidiary of Intelligrated Inc of Mason, Ohio.