Warehouse-to-store distribution: getting cold goods as far as the shelf

A delivery does not end at the store door. Goods wait at the ramp, cross the aisle and queue in the back room - and that is usually where the chain breaks.

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Short answer

In warehouse-to-store cold distribution the chain breaks after the delivery rather than during it: goods wait at the ramp, travel through the store and reach the cabinet late. A wheeled insulated container closes that gap - it comes off the vehicle, moves through the store closed and is opened only in front of the cabinet. The Isotec TBX comes on castors or on a pallet base in nine sizes from 410 to 1500 litres.

Who this page is for

Grocery chains and multi-branch retail
Daily or every-other-day store replenishment
Neighbourhood stores with no ramp and a narrow entrance
Operations with a lift or aisle bottleneck inside the store

In store delivery most of the loss happens not on the vehicle but in the twenty minutes between the vehicle door and the cabinet. The record shows the time of delivery; it does not show how many minutes it took for the goods to reach the shelf.

Where the chain breaks

the pallet waiting at the ramp: received, and nobody has moved it yet
moving goods inside the store: aisle, lift, back room
late arrival at the cabinet: at a busy hour staff serve customers first
the goods-in check: the product stands in the open while it is measured

The container goes into the store

A wheeled container comes off the vehicle and moves through the store closed. It is opened in front of the cabinet and the goods go straight in. In a store with no ramp, a narrow entrance or an upper floor served by a lift, that is where the difference shows: instead of a pallet, what crosses the shop floor is a closed box carrying its own cold.

The plan for the round

The order is split by regime; the contents of each store's container are prepared at the depot.
Containers are prepared with their plates the evening before.
The delivery order is set so the container with the most sensitive goods is opened last.
In the store the container travels closed to the cabinet and is opened there.
The empty container returns to the depot on the same trip and is prepared again in the evening.

What changes on the store side

For the staff the only difference is that the goods spend less time in the open. The goods-in check can be done at the container; the measurement is taken on the product inside and the lid is opened only for that.

How it is set up

Send us the daily volume per store, the delivery frequency and how the stores are entered - ramp or no ramp, lift or no lift - and we will choose between the wheeled and the pallet-based version and pick the size out of the nine.

Products used for this job

Isotec TBX Insulated Container

Eutectic Plates

Thermobox (EPP)

Sources

Neighbouring jobs

Retail & warehouse logistics →Cold chain logistics →How many minutes from delivery to shelf? Three places a store loses the cold How many trips a week: setting delivery frequency from depot to store Pallet, crate or wheeled container: choosing the delivery unit for stores Moving goods in a multi-floor store: the lift is the bottleneck What the twenty per cent limit means for a perishable load Signed on Friday, damage found on Monday: seven days, twenty-one days, in writing Multi-temperature distribution →Retail logistics →

Frequently asked

How does store staff take delivery of the container?

The container arrives closed and is opened in front of the cabinet. The goods-in check is done at that moment; the measurement is taken on the product itself and the lid is closed again once unloading is done.

How do the empty containers come back?

On the same trip. The emptied container goes back into the vehicle, is cleaned at the depot and prepared again in the evening. The number of containers is worked out from that cycle: in the field, returning, being prepared.

Does it work in a store with a lift and a narrow entrance?

That is exactly where the arrangement pays off: the longer the move takes, the more an exposed product loses. Send us the door width and the lift dimensions and we will pick a size that fits.

There is no room for a container in the store - what then?

The container does not stay in the store; once emptied it goes back to the vehicle. No permanent space is needed - only a path wide enough to reach the cabinet.