GramZero makes naturally sweetened, sugar-free mixes in Amsterdam, N.Y. Think gelatins, drink mixes and pudding mixes, all sweetened with stevia. A team of about 10 develops the formulas and ships orders to Amazon, food service customers and GramZero's own websites. That adds up to a lot of pallets moving every day.
Big Joe has been part of every step of that growth. GramZero started with hand pallet jacks, added a Big Joe LPT26 lithium-ion pallet jack, then an S22 walkie straddle stacker, and most recently a Big Joe integrated lithium-ion forklift. Loading a truck went from a two-person job to a one-person job. And every machine on the floor is one the whole team can run.
One operator, one pallet jack, tight trailers
Before the LPT26, loading and unloading trucks took two people with hand pallet jacks. Many powered pallet jacks had a wide profile that made them hard to maneuver inside a trailer. The LPT26 has a tight profile, so one operator can pinwheel pallets in the close quarters of a truck.
"I'm very comfortable, as an owner, knowing that any employee can use the power pallet jack," said Joe Stone, GramZero's founder and president. "It's kind of the go-to piece of equipment that can be used anywhere in the operation."
Racking in tight aisles
As orders grew, GramZero added fixed racking. Lifting product onto racks in narrow aisles called for a different machine, so the team brought in the S22 walkie straddle stacker.
"I know that mast is built. I know it's strong, I know it's sturdy," said Ken Montgomery, Operations Manager. "I need it to pivot tightly in tight areas, and also I need to feel safe with my employees doing it."
Montgomery likes that operators don't have to think about the machine. "Pull the handle back, throttle this forward, it goes. There's not all kinds of bells and whistles," he said. "They can focus on the task and moving it safely, not the machine."
A forklift that fits a food operation
When it was time for a forklift, propane was off the table. "One of the problems with propane forklifts is that it creates something that can fall onto a product, and with a food company, that's a big deal," Stone said.
A lead-acid electric truck was off the table too. Battery maintenance, downtime and charge time had cost real production time in the past, and GramZero wanted none of it.
The integrated lithium-ion forklift avoided both. There is no exhaust in the building, no propane tanks to swap and no fuel to handle. The battery opportunity charges, so the team plugs it in whenever the truck isn't working and it's ready when they need it.
"You don't need to really maintain it. Just plug it in, charge it, it doesn't have to be topped off," Montgomery said. "We don't have to clean terminal connections. We don't have to have all the safety equipment, the eyewash stations, the gloves, the aprons."
GramZero's forklift, the LXE40, has since been succeeded by the Big Joe LPX40.
What changed on the floor
- Two people became one. Loading and unloading trucks is now a one-person job with the LPT26.
- Tight trailers are workable. The pallet jack's tight profile lets operators pinwheel pallets inside a truck.
- Racking got easier to reach. The S22 lifts product onto fixed racking in narrow aisles.
- No exhaust near food product. The forklift runs on integrated lithium-ion, with no propane on site.
- No battery upkeep. No watering, no terminal cleaning, and no eyewash stations, gloves or aprons for battery care.
- Ready when needed. Opportunity charging keeps the forklift available between tasks.
- Everyone can run everything. Any team member can operate any machine on the floor.
"Everybody's successful and feels confident in running any of these pieces of equipment," Montgomery said. "There's our success, there's our efficiency."
Would Stone recommend Big Joe to a friend? "I would say absolutely."
See what integrated lithium-ion could do for your operation
Run your numbers with the Big Joe ROI calculator. Then contact your local Big Joe dealer to schedule a demo.
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