Gerlinger Finds Innovative Solutions to Complex Problems

• Having recently consolidated several satellite facilities to the main plant, Diamond needed to find a solution that enabled them to transport the increased number of bins quickly and efficiently.
• Existing options were explored but fell short in some capacity. Diamond needed a tailored solution.
• Gerlinger Straddle Carriers had once been used in transporting fruit for processing and Diamond decided to approach Gerlinger to pursue that option again.

The Solution:

• The team at Gerlinger started to explore what features a straddle carrier would need to meet Diamond’s transportation needs. The Gerlinger team toured the Diamond facility, interviewed key staff, and examined the transportation hurdles the business faced.
• After reviewing all of the available data, the Gerlinger team decided that a carrier must meet two important requirements – It needed to have the capacity to move 15 bins at one time, and it needed to feature a high rate of mobility.
• The Gerlinger Fruit and Vegetable Bin Carrier was developed and became an immediate success for Diamond Fruit. The carrier allowed Diamond to add 12,000 bins to their cold storage and a new production line at their main facility that processes 100 bins an hour.

“Without the carrier, I don’t know how we would have managed our production other than to use four or five lift trucks. I would say that the Gerlinger Carrier is doing outstanding work,” - Diamond Fruit Maintenance and Project Manager Nick Erickson.