To plan the optimum picking route, the ECE 220s are fitted with radio data terminals.

Once picked, orders are delivered by the order picking trucks to a marshalling area where they are loaded onto trailers using the Jungheinrich ERE trucks.

Dairy Crest had, until recently , been using another make of lift truck at the Nuneaton store. One of the reasons for switching to Jungheinrich was the fact that the batteries used to power both the Jungheinrich order pickers and the ride-on pallet handlers are interchangeable. This means that Dairy Crest has been able to minimise the number of batteries it uses – resulting in cost savings of 18 per cent.

 “Picking and loading is very hard on a truck's batteries,”  says Warehouse Operations Manager, Brandon J. Moss. “Apart from the significant cost benefits that have resulted from reducing the number of batteries we need, we have also been able to allocate an area of our charging bay to other things.”

In all , Dairy Crest operates 33 Jungheinrich order picking trucks, 12 ride-on pallet trucks and four electric and diesel counterbalance trucks at the Nuneaton store.

“By automating the bulk pallet operation and then designing the picking operation to be as flexible as possible, Dairy Crest's Nuneaton site is an excellent example of how automated and manual handling systems can work together,” says Jungheinrich's Craig Johnson, Jungheinrich UK Ltd's marketing manager.

About Jungheinrich UK Ltd:
Jungheinrich UK Ltd offers Pallet Trucks, Stackers, Counterbalance Trucks, Reach Trucks, Order Pickers, Very Narrow Aisle and Stacker Cranes in more than 600 truck variants. As well as this, Jungheinrich provide an extensive Aftersales Support Network, Rental and Financial Services, Racking Systems and Warehouse Planning. The company is a division of the German-owned Jungheinrich Group, which has manufacturing facilities Worldwide.