Rotatruck delivers a milk crate solution for Woolworths

Australian grocery retailer Woolworths was looking for a solution to improve its back-of-store operations, resupplying milk into the rear-loading display fridges. The challenge was to increase productivity, reduce staff injuries and improve the user experience.

Rotacaster developed a specialised Rotatruck to pick up milk crate stacks from the delivery pallets and deliver them to the fridges. From here, individual bottles could then be transferred into the display fridges. This is claimed to have significantly reduced the amount of bending required, as well as the effort required to transfer the milk from the crates to the display fridge.

In addition to a 12-month multisite trial, movement specialist DorsaVi electronically analysed flexion and forces with and without the Rotacaster solution. The assessment results revealed a significant reduction in bending and effort using a Rotatruck. The Milk-Crate Rotatruck is also fitted with Rotacaster’s patent-pending adaptable latching system, designed to securely auto-engage the milk crates.

Since the national Woolworths rollout, the Milk-Crate Rotatruck has been adopted widely across a range of organisations, including several dairies. It is estimated that more than half of Australia’s packaged milk is transferred on Rotatrucks.