Best Manufacturing: United States Cold Storage Distribution Center
In design-building Unilever’s expanded ice cream manufacturing facility adjacent to the company’s existing production facility in Covington, Tenn., contractor Primus Builders and its design arm, Primus Design Services, connected the two buildings via an elevated corridor that’s kept at a temperature of -20°F. The facility, which will be operated by United States Cold Storage (USCS), includes a 336,500-sq-ft dedicated frozen food distribution facility.
Within the extensively automated building, product makes its way from the production facility to a 35°F pallet delivery space by way of automatic guided vehicles that autonomously move, load and unload pallets. From there, product then moves down the elevated corridor to a -20° freezer warehouse. The receiving area in the warehouse is equipped with computer-controlled 28-ft-high stacker cranes that distribute product to its assigned space.