Flextronics Logistics (Irish Express Cargo), a division of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, has invested in Castell's drive-away prevention system Salvo to ensure that high-security, time-critical operating procedures at its supply and distribution hub in Raheen, Ireland, pose no threat to the well-being of warehouse operatives.

"We take the potential danger posed by drive-aways very seriously and regard protection of our staff as paramount," comments Roy Scott, National Health and Safety Compliance Manager at Flextronics Logistics. "The Salvo system has allowed us to address our concerns without affecting our operation and Castell's assistance with finalising the implementation has been superb."

Electronic components from across Europe are stored at the hub before being despatched to a Dell assembly line located 1.2 miles away. It is vital that the outbound process is accomplished in less than 10 minutes, since failure to do so would result in extremely expensive downtime for Dell.

A further complication is provided by security seals, which are located on the doors of every inbound trailer, and which must be applied to those of every outbound trailer. The breaking and application of these seals must be witnessed by both the driver and the loading bay operative, and involves the trailer doors being opened a short distance away from the edge of the bay, something that Salvo would normally expressly prohibit.

Castell tackled these stringent working conditions by adapting Salvo to meet Flextronics' requirements while simultaneously implementing an extensive two-week training programme involving 90 employees.

The critical modification to Salvo's regular operating method saw the Susie lock, which is applied to the trailer's emergency airline coupling, interlocked with the dock leveller as well as the door. This has allowed Flextronics to maintain its normal working practices but ensures that a driver can never depart from a bay while loading or unloading is being carried out.

Castell spent more than a year working closely with Flextronics, from the initial enquiry, through the consultation, proposal, trial and installation stages, to final commissioning and training.