 A forklift will ease the operations of Second Harvest |
Ralf Krutein, a materials handling equipment salesman in Fremont, has shown a conscientious side on behalf of a non-profit agency needing warehouse guidance and a reach truck.
"Ralf kept his eyes open" on behalf of the program and in recognition of the "hard times" for those dealing with the economy, says Willy Elliott-McCrea, chief executive officer of the Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz in Watsonville, California. "We are slammed now," he says, referring to a comparable April volume increase of 35% between 2009 and 2010.
Krutein located a three-stage Raymond electric reach truck that was used previously in a distribution centre for electronic components and has a lifting capacity of 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg).
From donated funds and some government assistance, Second Harvest paid USD12,000 for the 2005 narrow-aisle unit instead of Krutein's market-value estimate of USD18,000. Also, Second Harvest invested USD4,500 for a new battery. The Raymond EASI-R40TT went into service on 11 March in Watsonville.
"We are trying to get them to use their vertical space," Krutein notes. "The bulk store stuff is on the floor now" and is often inaccessible for first-in, first-out inventory cycling.
Second Harvest inefficiently stacks non-perishable goods in boxes that are placed in long rows. Getting the tomato sauce in the last row, for instance, may require moving everything stored in front or on top of this item.
Krutein has identified potential sources of additional storage racks to complement existing hardware in Second Harvest's warehouse. Krutein works at the Fremont facility of Raymond Handling Concepts, a company store of Raymond Corp.
Elliott-McCrea says the warehouse has storage racks for 200 pallet positions now-from a 2009 donation when a Gilroy, California furniture store closed-and needs more racks for an additional 800 pallet positions. The food bank was established in 1972 and is the oldest such agency in California.
During 2009, the food bank distributed more than 6.8 million pounds (3.1 million kg) of perishable and nonperishable food to low-income clients in agriculture-intensive Santa Cruz County, San Benito County and the northern portion of Monterey County. The 2010 projection: close to 7.5 million pounds (3.4 million kg) with a value of about USD12 million.
The warehouse is five miles (8 km) from the epicenter of the 17 October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which measured 6.9, killed 63 and injured 3,757 people.
"Three days later, Toyota sent us a forklift on a loan," Elliott-McCrea recalls. After the first wave of relief activity over three months, Toyota agreed to sell the Model 025FG30 for USD16,000-half of its best sales price-and donate the remainder. Proceeds from a
Santa Cruz Sentinel book about the earthquake helped fulfill Second Harvest's commitment for the forklift.
The propane-powered Toyota has a 5,000-pound (2,250 kg) lifting capacity and remains useful in the yard next to the warehouse, but Second Harvest looks to the reach truck to work in soon-to-be narrowed aisles and expand its warehouse capacity.
Second Harvest also operates two older Raymond electric sit-down counterbalance three-wheel forklifts, but "we have sorry looking lifts", Elliott-McCrea reports.