Palletised Cask Filling System
Maturation Warehousing
There are three classes of maturation warehousing. Traditional or dunnage warehousing; the casks are stored on their side; this is referred to as the bilge within the industry. They are stacked up to four high and each row is separated from those above and below by timber runners, see below. This method requires substantial manual handling as the confined space requires the casks are moved by hand, this can be a health and safety concern and running costs are high.
Racked warehouses are modern style industrial units containing racking which is accessible by mechanical handling equipment such as high reach trucks (HRTs). HRTs are battery counter balance forklift trucks which have a bespoke man-cage permanently fitted to the mast in place of forks; they are also suitably rated for operating in a potentially explosive atmosphere. The casks are delivered to the warehouse entrance by forklifts or trailers then manually rolled down the warehouse aisle to the HRT, they are then raised in the HRT cage with an operator, when the appropriate rack is reached the cask is rolled out to another operator who must ‘time’ the cask. Timing a cask is the process of ensuring that the bunghole in the casks bilge sits pointing upwards to ensure no spirit rests against it; minimising the risk of leakage but also to allow sampling of the spirit in situ at a later point. Timing a cask is physically demanding as it may require rotation of the cask on the spot. The casks are racked on the bilge; see below. Forklifts do not currently enter racked maturation warehouses as the risk of collision with the racking during repeated lengths of the aisle is too great.
Palletised warehousing began in the whisky industry in the early nineties with the then J&B racked warehousing complex Bonhill Bond in Dumbarton undergoing conversion to palletised warehousing. Palletised warehouses are steel portal buildings with no internal pillars or obstructions, see below. Pallets of vertical casks are stacked directly on each other; the process involves no manual handling and is much safer and more efficient as a result. Palletised warehousing is discussed in more detail here.
