VELOCITY VIDEO CASE HISTORY
Tread lightly
WHEN ONE ENTERS THE FALKEN TIRE DIS-
tribution center in Robbinsville, New Jersey,
Tires upon tires stacked floor to ceiling in specialized
racks—as many as 450,000 roadworthy products can
be stored in the 218,000-square-foot facility at any given
time. Most of them appear to look alike, but there are actu-
ally about a thousand different types held throughout the
building in the large five- by five-foot racks, which are stacked six
levels high up to 30 feet. The metal
racks make it easy to group specific
SKUs and allow for easy movement
throughout the facility using Toyota
forklifts. This facility is one of five
in the Falken network and serves
customers in the Northeast, the
Mid-Atlantic states, and Canada.
There are 13 Toyota forklifts that make up the fleet in
Robbinsville— 10 electric and three
propane vehicles. They do all of the
heavy lifting of the racks and their
contents, which can weigh over
2,000 pounds apiece when full of
tires. The forklifts, with their 5,000-pound capacity, can lift two of
the racks stacked together.
Falken chose Toyota forklifts for their durability and versatility.
“We want the fork trucks to be able to go anyplace that we need
to position them,” explains Jimmy Oxx, facility manager. “We are
stacking six high in this building, which is unlike almost anywhere
in the United States.” He says recent changes to the fire code
allowed Falken to increase the height of the stack in the facility. The
Toyota forklifts in Robbinsville feature quad masts that can reach
as high as 260 inches. When fully extended, the trucks can easily
place two racks stacked together on top of four other stacked racks
to reach a height of six levels.
WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
Most of the tires arriving at the facility are manufactured in Asia
and come floor-stacked in 40-foot shipping containers. A forklift
carrying an empty rack drives directly into a container. Workers
then place tires onto the rack until full. The forklift next takes the
rack to storage, with the location assigned according to the tire’s
type, tread pattern, and size. Picking is performed into empty racks
according to customer preference and SKU sequence. The forklifts
then drive the racks into outbound trailers, where workers unload
the tires for floor stacking.
Falken managers like being able
to use the same forklift for work
inside the containers and trailers
as well as the storage and picking
areas. “We worked with Toyota to
build a machine that would handle
the unique requirements of the
building, given our aisle widths
being as narrow as they are, with
the stacking height being as high as
it is,” says Ron Papcun, vice presi-
dent of operations. “They have the
flexibility to go inside a container in
the unloading and loading process-
es, and we can use them on the dock. We can also use them in the
picking and put-away operation because they have the height and
capacity that we need to handle that requirement.”
The ability for the forklifts to maneuver in tight places and stack
products high has enabled Falken to hold products more densely
than it might otherwise be able to do. In fact, this facility stores tires
at better than two tires per square foot, compared with the industry
standard of 1. 5 tires per square foot. “That allowed us to shrink
the size of the building,” adds Oxx. “The Toyota forklifts have been
here for about a year, and I can tell you it’s really been a no-worry
piece of equipment. From the purchase, to the men being able to
acclimate themselves to it, to the support staff that we have from
Toyota, it’s been a very rewarding experience,” he says.
ADVERTORIAL
To see a video of tire handling in action at the Falken distribution center
in Robbinsville, N.J., go to dcvtv.com Channel 2 and click on the Velocity Video.
Toyota forklifts make light work of lifting and moving racks of heavy tires at
Falken’s New Jersey distribution center.
A DC VELOCITY SPEED CHALLENGE
