The new forklifts, power jacks and racks have already improved the efficiency of the warehouse
at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. The new equipment was purchased with a $152,000 grant
from Tyson Foods.

The new racks in the walk-in freezer and refrigerator has nearly doubled the amount of product
that can be stored, said Carrie Harlow, chief operating officer at the Food Bank.

“It particularly helps with the inventory and has helped move the product out on a first in-first
out basis from the freezer and refrigerator,” she said.

“It’s really making it more efficient,” Harlow added.

The addition of two forklifts, six power pallet jacks and an order picker also has added greatly to
that efficiency.

Prior to the addition of new forklifts, there were trucks waiting to be unloaded. Now, the
warehouse crew is unloading trucks faster and moving the product into the storage.

“These are the first new forklifts we’ve ever had,” Harlow said with excitement in her voice.

The Food Bank still is maintaining their three older forklifts, keeping one in the annex building
and two in the warehouse.

Prior to the addition of the power jacks, workers had to push the manual pallet jacks around the
warehouse.

“With the new power jacks, we are saving 1.45 hours a day,” Harlow said. “With four drivers,
that saving quite a bit of time, and we can make more deliveries, particularly some at the last
minute.

“We’re so grateful to Tyson Foods, who have been great friends to the Food Bank for many
years, providing protein, and for really helping the Food Bank go to the next level in efficiency,”
Harlow said.

In addition, the funds also purchased an order picker that allows the inventory specialist to pull
product from the three levels of the storage racks. It saves another 1.5 hours a day.

The order picker looks like a forklift, but allows the specialist to stand harnessed on a platform
while pulling pallets of product as he needs them, Harlow said.

Dan Schroeder, operations manager at the Food Bank, also thanked Tyson Foods for their
donation and pointed out that how much more efficient it has made the warehouse operation.

“We’re not waiting for a forklift to become available to move product,” he said.
It takes eight hours to charge a forklift, so the warehouse crew now has other forklifts to use
while waiting for recharging.

“We’re unloading trucks a lot faster,” he added.

Bill Bowman, maintenance man, noted that new equipment not only makes the operation more
efficient but also helps cleaning underneath the rack are easier.