Project Summaries

Innovative Solutions for Pushback, Pallet and Carton Flow Racking

PROJECT SUMMARY – DOLLARAMA

CLIENT

Dollarama is Canada’s leading dollar store retailer with over 1,100 stores coast to coast and serviced by three existing distribution centres totalling 1,250,000 square feet.

CHALLENGES

With high growth continuing, Dollarama needed additional warehousing to meet the demands of the new stores. They also had to develop a high-density layout to ensure they could maximize the use of the space they built.

SOLUTION

In 2016, Dollarama broke ground on a new state of the art 500,000 square foot distribution center. Working in conjunction with Etalex, a leading rack manufacturer based in Montreal, and 3D Storage Systems, over 53,000 pallet positions of 6 deep pushback were installed in the new facility.

Dollarama has been a longtime user of 3D’s low profile pushback, with the first installation dating back to 2003. Historically Dollarama had used drive-in racking to store material within their warehouse facilities. However, they were finding that honeycombing was leading to space utilization rates lower than 70%. By switching to pushback, they were able to still achieve a high-density layout but also increase the utilization rate to over 90%  (see our section on Pushback Justification for more detail on this topic). Since 2003 Dollarama replaced a number of the drive in rack systems with pushback to increase their storage capacity.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

8,946 lanes of 3D’s 6 Deep Low-profile pushback, complete with linked carts, welded steel shafts and lane full indicators
Reinforced roll formed frames with structural steel bullnose protection and structural steel load beams

PROJECT SUMMARY – INTERAMERICAN FOODS

CLIENT

Interamerican Foods recently opened a new 150,000 square foot plant and distribution facility in Cleburne, Texas – the first in the United States for Mexico’s largest pasta manufacturer.

CHALLENGES

Interamerican wanted to store and ship their GMA pallets on the 48” face which meant picking up the pallet through the cutouts in the stringer versus the much higher openings on the 40” face.  They also wanted to layout their warehouse utilizing pushback racks.  This presented a problem because no standard pushback system has the clearances needed to get the forks into position without prematurely moving the carts – thus making it almost impossible to unload.

SOLUTION

Crown lift trucks of Dallas, Texas reached out to 3D Storage Systems to see if we could develop a new 5 deep pushback design specifically for this application. Using our Solidworks modeling software, 3D’s designers created fabrication drawings for a prototype. This prototype created carts with lower front ties that allowed over 4” of clearance for the forks.  After building and testing a single lane at 3D’s facilities, the lane was sent down to the Crown Dealership for testing with the customer’s pallets to ensure that the design worked as specified.  A few minor tweaks were added, and 3D was given the go-ahead to produce over 600 lanes for the new warehouse.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

614 lanes of 5 Deep and 70 lanes of 2 Deep dropped front tie, level carts, complete with lane full indicators and linked carts. The bottom level was floor mounted to make maximum use of the vertical space. All structural steel rack support, with oversized baseplates, double posting, and heavy horizontals

PROJECT SUMMARY – MARS PET CARE

CLIENT

Mars is a global manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$33 billion in annual sales in 2015.  Their facility in Columbus, Ohio is one of many manufacturing plants spanning the globe.

CHALLENGES

Mars wanted to take advantage of the global market for meat products used in pet foods but did not have the space within their manufacturing plant to store large batch purchases of product.

SOLUTION

In 2017, Mars purchased a vacant building next door and made plans to convert it from ambient temperature warehouse into a freezer. Mars asked their local material handling dealer, McCormick Equipment in Perrysburg, Ohio to assist them with a high-density storage layout and McCormick, in turn, contacted 3D Storage Systems to help out. Together 3D and McCormick came up with a plan that maximized storage while still ensuring enough selectivity to rotate product on a first-in-first-out basis. The new facility has just over 18,000 pallet positions of 2, 3 and 4 deep pushback situated in 154,000 square feet of a unique freezer within a building.  The project was very cost-effective because it utilized pushback over double stacked floor storage, ensuring high density without having to pay for carts, rails, and beams on the bottom level.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

1,786 lanes of 3 Deep and 866 lanes of 4 Deep Low-profile pushback, complete with linked carts, welded steel shafts and lane full indicators. Reinforced roll formed frames with structural steel bullnose protection and structural steel load beams

PROJECT SUMMARY – Multinational Potato Chip Manufacturer

CLIENT

A multinational potato chip manufacturer required a specialized storage solution to manage product loads on “slaveboards” or “palletboards” which are flat plywood pieces without fork pockets.

CHALLENGES

The client’s use of slaveboards presented a significant issue for loading and unloading due to the absence of fork pockets. This required a unique handling solution to ensure smooth and efficient storage operations.

SOLUTION

3D Storage Systems supplied approximately 3,000 pallet positions with varying depths of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7-deep pallet flow. To address the challenges posed by the slaveboards, 3D designed a special load and unload section that allowed forklifts to efficiently drop off and pick up the boards. Additionally, 3D provided a center track that was shorter than the outer tracks and incorporated heavy-duty load/unload track protectors to mitigate potential damage from forklifts.

This innovative design optimized the client’s storage and handling processes, ensuring greater efficiency despite the non-standard nature of the pallet loads.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

● Storage Capacity: 3,000 pallet positions with 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7-deep pallet flow lanes
● Custom Handling Features: Specially designed load and unload sections for forklift compatibility
● Damage Prevention: Heavy-duty load/unload track protectors to enhance system durability
● Operational Improvements:
○ Increased efficiency in storage operations
○ Smooth loading and unloading of slaveboards despite the lack of fork pockets
○ Improved scalability with the ability to accommodate various pallet depths

By leveraging tailored engineering and manufacturing expertise, 3D Storage Systems provided a scalable and durable solution that improved operational efficiency and met the client’s unique storage requirements.