The Alimak PL range of warehouse elevators is specially designed to meet the needs of busy warehouse and logistics operations. From parcel and trolley elevators to larger palette elevators, the PL range can increase efficiency and productivity in the warehouse environment while also cutting down manual handling and contributing to safe working practices.
The seafood factory Camanchaca in Tomé in Chile, called for a larger warehouse elevator to reach greater heights and replace the old goods elevator for processing, packaging, and loading food products. The installation presented several additional challenges related to this site, the safety requirements of their ongoing food-handling work and the additional health and safety considerations around Covid restrictions. Alimak was the only provider able to meet the requirements of this project.
The warehouse space has been expanded gradually over the years and the warehouse elevator therefore needed to connect various processes across multiple floors at varying heights. The three lower levels are concerned with processing, packing and loading salmon and need to be a food-safe area with temperatures kept at close to zero degrees Celsius. The two upper levels are used for packaging materials and supplies. The space available featured a low ceiling and did not allow for a separate machine room. The warehouse elevator would also need to be enclosed within a shaft once installation was complete, built with materials appropriate for food processing on the lower levels. All this needed to be completed without interrupting the ongoing work of the facility.
The flexible design of the Alimak PL 1000 warehouse elevator proved to be an ideal vertical access solution for this project’s limited space, with no machine room required and no headroom requirements. Installation was carried out in stages in order to allow everyday work to continue. The isolated food processing area was first closed off with plastic and was then opened for elevator work during a regular weekend closure. Installation continued with low temperatures maintained throughout and the extra safety measure of a daily Covid test for all team members on site. To remain compliant with local food safety laws, Alimak also supplied and installed a roof and lateral walls of stainless steel.
The complete warehouse elevator Is now in place providing non-stop access to all levels of the facility and delivering smooth operations from pallets of packaging material to packages of finished products loading onto trucks for delivery.
ELEVATOR DETAILS
Location: Tomé, Chile
Industry: Food & Beverage
Application: Seafood factory, warehouse
Elevator model: Alimak PL 1000
Capacity: 1,000 kg
Elevator size: 1.4 m x 1.5 m
Speed: 12 m/min
No. of landings: 5
Lifting height: 7.5 m