Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/744696
10 NOVEMBER 2016 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com $50,000 in wages, benefits and training expenses. Also, ASRS facilities make more efficient use of space, allowing for three times the storage density of a conventional facil- ity, the report said. So far, the technology is more common in Europe, where premiums for land and labor are even higher than in the United States, and in the frozen foods industry than among fresh produce packers. Rosenbusch foresees an increase in the United States and in Washington. For example, German company New Cold has an agreement for a massive ASRS warehouse with a seafood supplier in Seattle, he said, while New Jersey-based Preferred Refrigeration Services built two new facilities last year in Washington and announced an agreement for a third. However, the rush for this technology may take longer to reach fresh produce. Fresh fruits and vegetables have faster turnaround and producers are less willing to risk damaging delicate products, he said. Benefits to Matson Increased storage density is one of Matson's favorite aspects. For one thing, his company can stack pallets higher and closer together because forklifts struggle to reach high items and need more room to turn around. Meanwhile, people driving forklifts only make use of 70 percent or so of the pallet space due to the imperfections inherent in driving, sorting and moving things around. "You're always burying something, and — oh, by Murphy's Law — I always need the stuff in the back," Matson said. On the other hand, a computer-driven automated storage system makes use of 98 percent of the pallet space. Matson's new facility has five cranes reaching two directions from the aisles. Each crane needs only one empty pallet space to maneuver pallets to reach those in the back. The robots also allow his crews to more quickly assemble custom orders, cutting down on loading dock space. The fruit industry is in an era of custom packing for buyers who order pallets with say, seven boxes of one variety and two boxes of another, putting pressure on warehouses to quickly retrieve and replace pallets for each order, Matson said. The company operates the warehouse with 10 to 15 employees per shift, about half the workforce it would take with a conventional facility. All the workers — qual- ity control inspectors and forklift drivers — spend their time outside the storage area in the loading bay. All the retrieving and replacing of pallets happens with the auto- mated dollies and computer driven cranes, all tracked by computer. "One of the true benefits of this system is pure inven- tory tracking and keeping control of everything," said Lucas Hanson, Matson's IT director. "Knowing where everything's at. Every single one of these pallet positions, the system tracks." Added shipping manager Rumsey Abdulla: "And it stays in the cold." The 66,000-square-foot facility has 4,060 pallet spaces and stands 70 feet tall. Building that much capacity conventionally would have required 150,000 square feet or more. The building also has two empty crane aisles that would hold an additional 1,600 pallet positions for potential expansion in the future. The company's previous warehouse was built in 1982 when the facility packed 10,000 bins per year. In 2010, facing 150,000 to 170,000 bins a year, the Matsons began leasing storage space from another packing firm but knew they eventually would have to move. Jordan Matson had heard of the ASRS technology and in 2010 visited a facility in Chicago. It was a tough deci- sion, one made together by Matson, his brother Jason, his The exterior of the Matson Fruit cold storage warehouse in Selah, Washington. The right side of the warehouse, with steel siding and insulation, was built to allow higher stacking of pallets using robotic cranes. The left side of the warehouse, with concrete siding, is similar in size to a standard cold storage facility.