Tygard Claw Increases Safety and Reduces Labor Costs by 30%
A freezer company with facilities nation-wide provides businesses customized, temperature-controlled storage. Producers send shipments of fresh product to the public freezers, where pallets are broken down, case-by-case, and reassembled with spacers so food freezes quickly and evenly.
Manually breaking down pallets and inserting freezer spacers is not only time-consuming, it’s also very labor intensive and creates a high possibility for injury and worker’s comp claims.
Rather than incurring high labor costs in this vital part of the freezing process, the company partnered with Riekes to come up with a creative, low-cost solution.Â
INITIAL CHALLENGE
A public freezer company breaks down each pallet, case-by-case and manually reassembles with freezer spacers. This time-consuming and labor-intensive process requires repetitive, heavy lifting, increasing the risk of on-the-job injuries.
OUR SOLUTION
Riekes proposed the Tygard Claw fork attachment (TDC600-EX Freezer Clamp) to reduce redundant lifting with a mechanical solution that clamps and lifts layers allowing a gap for spacers to be inserted. Tygard’s layer-picking attachment is entirely adjustable and fits any brand of forklift. The unit is also effective in removing freezer spacers.
THE RESULTS
The customer noted a 30% labor savings with an ROI in six months. Before using the TC600-EX, it took workers five minutes per pallet to insert freezer spacers. Now, the same process is done in 45 seconds per pallet - boosting productivity and reducing safety concerns. Quick and efficient layer-picking changed the game for the customer’s operation, and they’ve acquired additional freezer clamps for other locations.