Burris Logistics uses high-speed solid panel doors at its DCs

Since 1925, family-owned Burris Logistics has been providing supply chain solutions to national retailers and e-commerce startups. With 15 facilities across the United States, the company has become a leader in controlled-temperature food distribution, and it has offered its clients integrity, quality and dependability.

Burris Logistics provides multiple solutions for its customers. Customers can focus on what they specialize in, while Burris concentrates on procurement, warehousing and distribution. With many customers requiring online ordering, the company has a variety of offerings, as they ensure ordering is seamless by providing a 48-hour turnaround time from order to shipment.

David Whitehead, plant engineer for Jacksonville, Fla.-based Burris Logistics, knows how to consistently meet his customers’ expectations.

“When you put your product in our warehouse, you get it back the same way—or we pay for it, guaranteed,” Whitehead says.

Maintaining that commitment requires tremendous effort and a talented team to ensure equipment and facilities are up to the challenge. The Jacksonville facility consists of a high-volume, 226,000-square-foot warehouse with 197,000 square feet of refrigerated space. It offers four temperature-controlled rooms to store an array of products.

Maintaining temperatures in these rooms can be difficult. In 2003, Burris installed specialized, high-performance traffic doors because they offer higher R-values, higher speeds, increased cycles and superior sealing capabilities. The doors in their Jacksonville facility maintain -5°F on one side and 36°F on the other.

However, Whitehead struggled to find parts, experienced issues with the seals, and the panels were delaminating. This condition led to safety and productivity concerns with slippery floors, while the doors were icing up and compromising product quality.

Due to changes in cold storage door technology over the last 16 years, the Burris team had the challenge of deciding on a door supplier. Team members decided to test three different products from three suppliers. In the end, Whitehead selected a door with the latest design advancements.

Burris installed five bi-part, high-speed freezer traffic doors, which feature an optional heated blower system at the top of the doorway. For additional safety and energy savings, the doors have 4-inch thick panels that open at speeds of up to 100 inches per second. The panels move out of oncoming fork trucks’ ways quickly, increasing productivity, and they close rapidly to help minimize heat loss.

Heating elements in the door jambs and header reduce frost and ice buildup around the opening, while a patent-pending heated blower system sends a column of warm air down the center seals to the threshold. This design prevents ice buildup on the center seals and threshold, creating a safe opening to enter through, while reducing convectional heat loss.

“The doors have eliminated the moisture at the floor, are easily adjustable [and] easy to maintain, lower energy usage and [are] trouble-free,” Whitehead adds.

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