Store loading benefits from special lift

Transdek will launch a range of products at IMHX 2010 aimed at revolutionising the design and build of retail sites. Transdek claims the V2G double deck lift has the potential to save up to £250k on cost and 2 weeks of store build time with more efficient use of plots.

At the back-of-store area, a common industry norm is to dig ramps down to loading bays so that goods can be transferred on a single level from vehicles to warehouse, thus speeding up the unloading process and optimising vehicle turnaround times. However, according to Transdek MD Mark Adams, this is based on a misconception.

"The discharge of goods vehicles at stores operates differently to distribution hubs," he says. "Because of the time needed to separate and marshal various product types before they are moved in to the store, it typically takes over an hour to unload a full vehicle at retail outlets. An efficient hydraulic lifting platform can comfortably equal these tip times and makes the requirement for vehicle ramps, or raised docks, obsolete." This has significant implications for the design of back-of-store areas in terms of the cost and time of build, according to Transdek. The cost of digging each vehicle ramp is estimated to be between £130k and £250k. But more notable are the potential savings from reducing the overall size of the build. "A vehicle ramp is typically 15m longer than the manoeuvring space required for goods vehicles would otherwise be.

This is dead space, without which, an equivalent plot area can be used with much more flexibility," adds Adams.

A number of major retailers have already shown interest in the new product, including Tesco and Boots.

At one site, for example, where Transdek has already been invited to carry out a survey for the V2G equipment, the area saved by avoiding ramps meant the difference between being able to operate dot.com from the site or not. At another new-build site, the absence of ramps would provide the same customer with an additional 8000sq ft of store selling space - a 16% increase over the original design layout.

Unlike other systems designed for loading goods from vehicles to the ground, the V2G range is surfacemounted and comes as a drop-in, self-contained pod unit which can be installed and operational within a day. All comparable products on the market have to be dug in to pits, says the company, which increases installation costs as well as introducing complications with drainage and oil leaks.

IMHX Stand 20C30