What Do the Flu, Freezers & Pallet Flow Rack Have in Common?…

You Got It – The Flu Vaccine!!

No one wants the flu, but millions want or need the flu vaccine every year.  Luckily we had just the right pallet flow rack for the job…

High density freezer storage on Mallard’s Magnum Wheel pallet flow was a great fit for this bio-pharmaceutical products distributor responsible for distributing the flu vaccine to medical facilities.  This vaccine, as with other sensitive medications, must be kept frozen and protected from light to ensure viability and it must remain undamaged and uncontaminated.  Freezer applications within themselves have unique dynamics for moisture, ice buildup, speed of loading and unloading, etc. and so we called on our engineering testing lab to make sure that we had the right lane configuration, speed controllers, and pallets all working together to ensure customer satisfaction for this important public health resource.

The Test:

• 3-rail, ½” per foot pitch lane design
• Customer supplied wooden pallets: standard CHEP, PECO, GMA in various conditions
• Load weight ranges: 200-300 lbs. & 1900-2000 lbs.
• Speed Controllers tested: direct mount & drop-in at 56” intervals
• 3”/2”/3”pallet flow lane configuration

As always we like to test customer-supplied pallets with the new lane configurations to ensure smooth, efficient pallet flow.  It is not unusual to be supplied with pallets that are in extremely poor condition.  As we have noted before, good pallets = good flow.  Poor pallets can actually cost more in the long run with lane downtime, slow advancing pallets and even damage to pallet flow system parts like nails that destroy speed controller coverings, etc.  As you can see from the photo to the right, there are nails protruding from the broken boards of this pallet… this is a pallet in poor condition and can frankly do more harm than good.

As you’ll see from the test video, the compromised pallets get hung up in the pallet flow lane during the test and the system was plugged to release them.  The better quality pallets made better contact with the pallet flow wheels and speed controllers helping to ensure a reliable flow and good pallet tracking down lane.

 Test Results:

• Poor condition pallets had lots of broken boards and protruding nails which negatively affected the pallet flow
• Quality pallets were very reliable in the flow lane and safer for employee handling
• Quality pallets made better contact with wheels and speed controllers ensuring reliable flow
• Plastic pallets were tested (not shown) and did flow but where slow to restart when stopped for any period of time
• Drop-In #40 speed controllers were recommended to keep the pallet flow loads moving at a safe speed

For this application a 20-deep, 3-lane Magnum wheel pallet flow rack configuration was specified to meet the demand for 200 pallet positions of flu vaccine in a freezer application.

Magnum wheel pallet flow for freezer application is designed and manufactured to take the punishment that industrial storage freezers dish out.  Our Magnum wheels are manufactured with an extremely rugged reinforced resin to prevent the cracking and splitting that occurs with standard polycarbonate pallet flow wheels.  In addition Magnum wheels have a wider surface area for better pallet tracking.

The Benefits of Magnum Wheel:

• Rugged, durable pallet flow rack rails
• Ideal for heavy loads up to #3,000
• Reinforced resin material
• Wider surface for better pallet tracking
• Designed for tough freezer environments
• Lifetime damage warranty

We could say something hokey here like, “don’t get stuck in the cold” or “don’t let slow flow melt your profits” but we wouldn’t do that! Instead, how about you just give us a call and let us know what storage challenge has you ailing, and we’ll get right to work on the cure.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for:

We’ll be at Booth #S445. Can’t wait to see you there!

 1-800-243-6694 US Only
1-815-625-9491
info@mallardmfg.com