DC Velocity - July 2015

BY MARTHA SPIZZIRI, MANAGING EDITOR–DIGITAL

DOCK SAFETY EQUIPMENT

WHEN NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO. WAS FOUNDed in 1991, “we didn’t even really have any docks,” says facility/project manager Bruce Clark. But that has changed. The Fort Collins, Colo.-based company has grown to become the third-largest craft beer brewer in the country, with brands such as Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, 1554, and Shift. It’s now one of the nation’s 10 largest brewers, distributing its wares to 39 states and the District of Columbia. Since 1995, New Belgium has operated out of two facilities in Fort Collins: a 205,000-square-foot brewery and packaging center with 25 loading docks and a separate 180,000-square- foot distribution center with 20 loading dock bays.

In the last five years or so, the brewer has experienced a growth spurt, with production soaring to more than 945,000 barrels in 2014 from fewer than 583,000 in 2009. But with more product coming through the DC, problems began to crop up. That was particularly true at the dock bays, where wear and tear were taking their toll on the equipment and the forklift operators who worked there.

“We had a lot of equipment failure, which obviously increased the cost of repairs. We had a lack of safety procedures set up with our dock system. And then, we were getting complaints from employees [about] back, leg, and shoulder issues just from the rough approach from the leveler to the truck,” Clark says.

Travel across the transition areas of the dock—the
places where the lip meets the dock, the leading edge of
the lip, and the edge where the dock meets the warehouse
floor—can cause whole-body vibration for lift-truck oper-
ators, explains Rite-Hite product manager Troy Bergum.
“Whole-body vibration is a major issue when it comes to
skeletal damage of various sorts,” he says. “There’s a lot
related to leg and back and neck injury from crossing that
bridge going into the trailer. A forklift driver can cross that
bridge over 100,000 times a year,” he notes.
The equipment was sustaining damage as well. “The
components on the levelers weren’t holding up,” Clark
recalls. “We were getting cracks in the leveler and separa-
tion on a lot of the welds, and springs were breaking—just
a lot of little things. It was a constant problem.” On top of
that, the vehicle restraints weren’t standing up to the hard
usage. Added to that, quite a bit of product was being lost
to damage as lift trucks entered the trailer.
New Belgium brought in Arbon Equipment, a Rite-Hite
company whose services include loading dock planning,
building, and design, for help. The dock consultants con-
ducted an assessment and recommended replacing the
existing equipment with new gear from Rite-Hite: hydrau-
lic dock levelers, Dok-Lok vehicle restraints, and a commu-
nication and control system.
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