Burlodge and Dracy Santé: a healthy partnership

The Orthopaedic Centre in Dracy-LeFort, France, is the first French health establishment to use Burlodge’s RTS CT TransRack meal delivery system

The RTS CT TransRack is the ultimate hospital catering tool. It’s a proven concept,” says Pierre-André Villard, Burlodge’s regional director in South East France and the French overseas territories.

This model is better designed to reduce the risk of developing repetitive strain injury. The RTS CT TransRack also improves logistics, distribution and cleaning processes, while enhancing food quality. “These are many critical factors at play today,” explains Villard. “The choice of trolleys for a hospital is decided by a long line of stakeholders.” “We therefore had to convince the health authorities, the buyers, the unions, the logistics coordinators, domestic services and the users to accept the trolley’s innovative removable transfer rack as a unique solution, where the trays are transported on a TransRack that is separate from the RTS CT trolley.”

Villard, who joined Burlodge from the hospitality industry, could see the benefits of this system and became the first to implement the RTS CT TransRack trolley in France. His fi rst order was for three RTS CT trolleys for the prestigious Orthopaedic Centre in Dracy-LeFort, a village of about 1,500 inhabitants between Lyon and Dijon. As this is a hospital treating musculoskeletal disorders, selecting human factor-friendly equipment was of paramount importance. Before making a decision the proposed equipment was heavily scrutinized.

Burlodge has managed to reduce the weight of its trolleys by 15% with the design of the RTS CT carbon door. Not only does the equipment weigh less but it is also designed for hotline, cook-chill and cook-freeze applications. “When we started thinking about how we could cut catering costs for the Orthopaedic Centre and the Dracy Santé group, we thought about the possibility of serving meals to neighboring hospitals.

So, with a central kitchen in mind, we approached Burlodge,” explains Mathieu Mercier, manager of Unirest, a subsidiary of Dracy Santé, which oversees the group’s catering services. “We were attracted by Burlodge because they off er reliable equipment that is easy to clean, effi cient and conforms to the IP55 European hosing standards. The trolleys weigh much less than other equipment on the market and the removable TransRack concept guaranteed real logistical savings – for example, you only need a simple 3.5 ton vehicle to transport the TransRacks rather than a heavy goods vehicle for trolleys,” says Mercier.

From an ergonomic point of view, it clearly makes a difference. Instead of a 200kg load to transport, it is only 80kg (fully loaded). Lighter and quicker, the RTS CT TransRack is also more manageable. It is easier to handle in the corridors, which helps prevent damage to walls, and is safer for users. “All these improvements persuaded us to continue our partnership with Burlodge,” explains Mercier.

Read the whole article at page 64 of Aliworld