Two lightweight mobile platforms from Thorworld Industries have brought improved efficiency and safety to unloading operations at East End Foods, the spice, lentil and rice importer.
With a £100m turnover, the company produces, packs and distributes over 60,000 tonnes of foodstuffs each year from its £15 million state-of-the-art processing plant in West Bromwich.
The two Thorworld mobile platforms replaced a previous smaller, older model. They solve the problem of the lack of a conveniently located loading bay in an area where the spices are offloaded, before being stored inside a 300,000 sq ft warehouse.
Built to East End Foods’ specifications they measure 2.4m wide x 2.2m long with a 3,000 kg capacity. They are fitted with one metre high hand rails, counterbalanced safety bars and dock bumpers, and finished in anti-slip paint.
They also have fork truck lifting pockets on all sides for quick and easy repositioning of the platforms within the unloading yard.
Four container vehicles are offloaded each day. The spices, in boxes or sacks, are placed on pallets on the platform and a fork lift truck drives up alongside to lift them down and take them into the warehouse. The platforms have adjustable legs operating to plus or minus 250mm so they can be used with containers of varying floor heights.
East End Foods’ director Jitendra Wouhra said: “The mobile platforms can be positioned in the most convenient spot for the unloading of containers.”
