Link 51, the UK’s leading shelving and storage manufacturer, recently completed the installation of wide aisle pallet racking at a Bristol bulk storage warehouse, on behalf of the award winning drinks supplier, Matthew Clark.
The warehouse, operated by the Bristol Port Company, is located at the Royal Portbury Dock. The pick and pack facility is one of Matthew Clark’s network of distribution centres across the UK, supplying customers with a range of 4,000 products including champagne, wine, spirits, beers and soft drinks.
Link 51 was selected by the Bristol Port Company to design, manufacture and install the pallet racking at the 8452 sqm distribution centre. The racking was to allow for a capacity of 8572 pallet locations, with heights varying from 4 to 6 pallets at the maximum elevation of the pitched warehouse.
As Matthew Clark’s lease on an existing South West distribution centre was due to expire, Link 51 had little over a month in which to complete the full installation. Bristol Port’s Development Engineer, Paul Osborne said, “The pressure was on during this installation and I am pleased to say that Link 51 met the challenges head-on from the outset.”
Following detailed planning and as the warehouse was designed for bulk storage, the initial priority was to include 15 tons of steel spreader plates to support the structure on the specially hardened warehouse floor slab. Then, to fully utilise the space of the floor area and to allow greater flexibility during pallet picking operations for Bristol Port’s three reach trucks, the racking system was based on 15 wide aisles, each 75 metres long with two bridging bays to facilitate cross aisle transfers.
Each pallet location was configured as 1m wide by 1.2 m deep, as opposed to the conventional 1.2m wide by 1m deep, thereby allowing for increased efficiency in vehicle loading and distribution.
For protection purposes, the racking system included floor mounted, high visibility yellow tubular barriers either side of each aisle entry point.
The installation was completed a week ahead of schedule.
“Given the time constraints, the fact that Link 51 manufactures in the UK provides substantial benefits, including rapid access to spares as and when required. We would be very comfortable using Link 51 again for future pallet racking projects,” added Mr Osborne.
Link 51
David Buller
Tel: 07887 628895
Comments are closed.