Loading bay design
February 1st 2007

Loading bay design In recent years, the design and implementation of loading bays has become an increasingly complex process. Whatever your requirements in this area, Crawford can provide a solution

With the pressure on supply chain performance intensifying, so are the demands on specified equipment to ensure that a smooth flow of goods is maintained. Poor design, substandard product quality and long term unreliability and a lack of correct maintenance are all likely to prove extremely costly in terms of disruption to the supply and despatch of goods.

In addition, the health and safety regulations applicable to loading bays are more stringent and the penalties for breaching them are escalating quickly.

Regardless of the size and scale of the application, the correct choice of loading bay equipment and the overall design now encompasses a wide range of issues which make choice of supplier even more critical.

It is fair to say that the priority for suppliers in today's market is to deliver fully integrated solutions that are based on an in-depth understanding of the individual client's requirements.

Too many companies place a reliance on the main building contractor to source the lowest cost solution, with little or no regard to the impact on the overall performance of the final logistics operation. Given that the entire output of a warehouse has to pass through the loading bay, this can be significant.

Professional approach Some good examples of the benefits that a more professional approach to loading bay design can bring occur in situations where inclines are too steep for manual pallet trucks, thus causing jarring to the operators neck and back etc. Damage to the pallet trucks due to the chassis grounding also results in delays in loading/unloading and damaged goods through spillage from the pallet. The replacement of damaged pallet trucks and the occurrence of operator sick time are both 'hidden costs' that result, and these can be positively impacted by the correct primary specification.

In a recent survey carried out by Crawford on behalf of DHL at various sites across the UK, both of the problems mentioned above were found. Through carrying out a detailed survey of various DHL managed operations Crawford have ensured that, in the future, the correct dock height and dock leveller length will be specified according to individual client requirements and type of operation. This can easily be achieved by visiting clients' existing depots and surveying the type of vehicles in use and the proposed method of material handling seen to be required prior to specifying.

Another example to highlight is where Loading Bays are not designed correctly for smaller vehicles. Standard dock levellers are not able to service smaller, lightweight vans and therefore hand loading has to be carried out resulting in extended loading times, risk of injury to operatives and product damage. This also gives problems with large gaps around the vehicles at the loading bay, resulting in rain entering the building causing unsafe working conditions, loss of heat/chill, bird infestation and operator discomfort. The large gap in itself is also a potential safety hazard which must be rectified.

Extended range Crawford found this at one DHL depot and subsequently proposed their Combidock, a specially designed dock leveller which gives an extended travel range above and below dock level with the facility to restrict the size of lip and load imposed, making it ideal for use with many vehicles from containers down to lightweight vans.

Smaller openings and seals can be designed but this then excludes the use for articulated vehicles. A solution for this problem was the Crawford's SIR seal. This can be supplied with conventional Air Bag Seals or Dock Shelters and provides sealing to vehicles with a height variance of up to 2 metres.

A final example of problems with loading bays can be excessive buffer wear and damage through wide variations of vehicles and use of shunter vehicles.

Crawford's floating buffers,steel or polyethylene faced buffers and their unique steel, D shaped buffer with integral rubber shock absorber can be the answer to this particular problem which is common throughout Distribution Centres.

Keith Hayward, Sales and Marketing Director at Crawford comments: "We find that in cases where we are consulted early in the the design stage we can propose solutions that can offer major financial savings to the end user and at the same time ensure that the correct equipment is specified for the clients needs. Also, by specifying properly in the first instance, other costs further down the line such as sick time arising through injury and excessive equipment replacement or refurbishment can be minimised. Such costs are not visible at build stage, but become crucial later in the operational life of the building."

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