It was a busy week at the Haribo. The previous week, the passerelle ( a conveyer-like machine that wraps and carries pallets from the Factory to the Warehouse) Was "down". It is always down for a short time, but the wrapper was having serious issues and that forced us to be unable to move pallets to the warehouse. And things began to Pile Up!
I wish I could have taken a picture of the "Great Wall" of pallets we had built. But cellphones and photos are not allowed in the factory ( for obvious reasons.) But I assure you is was a sight to behold.
The Passerella eventually got fixed, but the lines continued to run. And without AGV ( Robot) assistance, the task of tearing the wall down got continually pushed back... To Saturday.
And I volunteered to come in and help out.
It should have been like last Saturday, But this weekend they had 4 additional lines operational. With lines in use, that means they need boxes, film, gummies, and special assistance from time to time with pallet removal and restock. In other words: It keeps us from being able to solely focus on clearing the floor.
In addition to that, the Warehouse guys were not working. So one of our Fork Truck Drivers had to go there to unload the Passerella. From what I hear, the Floor of the warehouse is now as cluttered as our was. I'm sure they will be happy about that on Monday.
We DID manage to tear down the wall and clear out enough pallets to allow the AGV's to run. And that helped a bit. ( We still have to drive around them: And fix them when they are "stuck".) And I stayed an extra hour or so to try to clear out the back half. With the Third Shift arriving, it freed me up to focus exclusively on the pallet piled up in the back. It takes me 3 minutes to drive the entire length of the factory, pick up a double stack of pallets, and bring it to the Passarella. That is Without any AGV dodging or slow downs due to "Shakky Pallets" So theoretically, in 30 minutes I "should" be able to move 20 pallets. (10 trips. Two pallets each trip.)
By the time I left, There were still 19 stacks of pallets in the back. That's not counting the nooks and crannies of double stacked pallets all tucked in-between. Hopefully third shift managed to clean up the rest during their shift.
It was late by the time I finished ( after 1 A.M.) and it was beginning to snow. Luckily, I have a Subaru, and even with my tired state, I was able to make it home without issue. The Snowplows were not out in force at that time, so the snow began to pile up. In fact, when I went to Church at 8 A.M. The roads were still rather sloppy.
But Luckily, I have a Subaru.
The snow does bring out the Christmas Spirit, though. And Haribo has fully embraced the season with lobby decorations and family picture events. They also celebrated their third year of Operation! IT is hard to believe it has only been operational for three years. And I was "here" ( in kenosha.. Not Haribo) During that construction phase. I saw the building being put up and the big letters being painted on the side of the factory. They started up around the same time Zebra did ( Then GXO) So I drove by the Haribo Factory every day and could see the progress. Such fond memories.
And finally: Remember that Blog post about Lydia? I told her I was going to make her famous with my 6 regular readers. Turns out... I was right!
I was grabbing a coffee on my way to church this morning and casually glanced down at the newspaper to see her sporting the front page! I snapped a picture, but should have bought the paper and read the article. Now, everyone is going to want to visit the clubhouse and see the awesome bartender who puts up those amazing Christmas Decorations.
I guess the article is about her hosting a "Pop-Up" bar somewhere in Kenosha. ( Again, I did not read the article..) But I will ask and see where and when. Perhaps I will stop in for a visit. Or maybe she is going to open her own bar! Wouldn't that be cool?
As for now, Monday is only a few hours away, and I have to get some recovery time before starting it all back up again. I shoveled a small path to the front door so the mail guy can deliver and now I am curled up in front of the fireplace with a warm beverage. A little peace and quiet to help me make every second count.
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