SUPER STORAGE

Client – Superdrug PLC

Superdrug put out its brief for this £150K project in an open forum to seven contractors. WSL was chosen because of our ability to truly understand a client’s requirements and tailor our work accordingly.

Client Background

Superdrug is a well-known value chemist with a staggering 900 stores across the UK and Ireland. It also has a retail website from which products are sent direct to customers.

The Challenge

Due to its online expansion programme, Superdrug wanted to maximise storage space in its South Elmsall warehouse to accommodate picking fulfilment. The work to create this extra space would have to be done within a busy warehouse employing expert health and safety techniques.

The Solution

WSL installed a 5m-high, 1000m² mezzanine floor. We erected short-span shelving for picking on the new first floor, and designed the layout around workbench areas to ensure picking and packing can be done as efficiently as possible. The mezzanine was fitted with a fire-rated suspended ceiling, column casings and fascias to comply with current building regulations.

In addition, as the mezzanine was built over a storage area, we dismantled the existing racking and reinstalled reduced-height racking under the mezzanine. We also installed end-of-run barriers, mezzanine guards and pallet racking post protection.

WSL was also contracted to install low-energy lighting, smoke detection and sprinkler system too. The mezzanine floor, part K staircases, rack barriers and pallet gates used on this project were manufactured in-house by WSL.

Added Value

The site was run under CDM regulations, with WSL being the principal contractor. We completed the project in just 16 weeks from start to finish.

IN FOR A PENNY, IN FOR A POUND

Client

Poundworld

Warehouse Systems Limited has worked with Poundworld since 2008 to design manufacturer and install mezzanine floors for housing stock in its stores.

Client Background

Poundworld was originally founded as Bargain Centre in 1974. Its aim was to transfer the exciting hustle and bustle of a market place into a high street store environment. In 1997, the company opened its first store to be branded Everything’s £1. This single price point concept was so successful all stores re-branded to Poundworld in 2004. There are now more than 120 Poundworld stores in Britain and the company employs more than 2500 people.

The Challenge

Poundworld has a product range of more than 3000 lines across multiple departments. With so many lines, the company needs to maximise the floor space in its stores.

 The Solution

Installing a mezzanine level boosts in-store floor space significantly, providing room for either more product display or more storage. The latest mezzanine that we installed for Poundworld was in Kettering and was around 400m², although we have built mezzanines from 120m² in smaller Poundworld stores. Staircases are either part K or part M and have standard twin rail handrails. The floor decking is 38mm, high-density tongue and groove chipboard and is laid in brickwork fashion to give the floor strength and tie everything together.

Added Value

This store, like most of the Poundworld stores we’ve worked on, only had double door access, so we provided specialist, low-level forklift trucks to move the steel during the build. A clear, bright working area enabled our team to work even faster than usual and the build was completed in just four days. We were first on site and left everything tidy so the shop fitter could quickly get to work installing ceilings and store fixtures.

To see a time lapse video of the mezzanine floor installation at Poundworld’s Kettering store, please click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WjRbBHWn8g&feature=feedu

ACCELERATED TIMESCALES FOR BRAKES

The Brakes Group is a leading supplier to the catering and foodservice industry in the UK and abroad. They are committed to providing fast-paced food deliveries, promising high quality food retailers the very freshest food from the very best suppliers. Their distribution facilities must therefore be first-class

The challenge

As their business has continued to grow, Brakes Bros. required an extension to their site in Grantham. After the WSL Sales team contacted them, they called a meeting in April, commissioned the work in May and requested a solution that was fully fitted and working by the end of June.

The solution

Coming in at around £160,000, the Brakes Bros Grantham extension required an extra 3,390 locations which could accommodate non-standard, two-metre high pallets. There was also a mezzanine floor area, in which WSL recommended long-span shelving with four shelf levels, the first three of which were inclined for ease of picking.

Added value

The pace at which this project was delivered demonstrated exactly how committed WSL are to meeting client needs – whatever the challenge. Our Sales team regularly worked with the key client contact throughout weekends, to ensure that the project continued to move forward so that deadlines, budgets and delivery timescales could be met.

If you require any further information on this project please contact us.

CRACKING THE DENBY POTTERY CONTRACT

Client: Denby Pottery

Project value: £160,000

Products utilised: Pallet Racking, Longspan Shelving

Denby has been making pottery for over 200 years. The company has built a market-leading reputation and an international customer base. To support their growth, they planned to upgrade their distribution facilities by moving from their existing distribution centre in Huthwaite to a 100,000 square foot unit at Bemrose Park in Derby. After a competitive pitch against three other suppliers, WSL won the contract to provide a full racking and shelving solution.

The challenge

Denby Pottery was not an existing WSL client and the timescales in place were tight. First and foremost, it demanded intense relationship-building from the sales team to get WSL into a position where we could compete effectively for the contract. Once the initial proposal and design were approved, the project had to be delivered within a three-month window.

Pallet Racking down aisle

The solution

The solution proposed and delivered by WSL incorporates over 8,000 pallet locations of racking which include low level picking shelves. The entire project was valued at over £160,000. One important aspect of the solution was our capability to act as an independent consultant and recommend the right products for the installation. WSL is not tied to particular suppliers so can source the best materials and latest innovations from right across the market.

Added value

Our approach was delivered successfully to a challenging three-month deadline by providing fully integrated project management. The key to fostering the successful client partnership was the ability of the WSL team to appreciate the technical challenges quickly, understand client requirements and identify the right solution. Our sales team worked closely with our design and installation teams to offer a seamless service.

If you require any further information on this project please contact us.

BRINGING BETTER CHOCOLATE TO BRITAIN !!!

Client:
Hotel Chocolat

Products utilised:
Pallet racking, Galvanised shelves and decks, Barriers

Warehouse Systems Limited is proud to have helped Hotel Chocolat bring better quality chocolate to people across Britain. Hotel Chocolat invested around £200k in their racking solution – and WSL was appointed to deliver the project against fierce competition from both UK and Continental rack manufacturers.

The client:

Hotel Chocolat is a retail success story. From the outset, their vision has been to make a better type of chocolate available to British consumers. However, the phenomenal growth of their business meant that storage and distribution became an increasingly complex issue – until WSL was chosen to help reshape their capability.

The solution:

WSL offered a number of solution alternatives which demonstrated our experience in taking projects of this nature to site. Ultimately, due to the requirement for picking from a large SKU range relative to the replenishment volume, the best solution was standard wide aisle racking using Reach trucks.

The use of adjustable dividers with decked picking levels offered the client real flexibility so that the system maintained long-term viability. The rack barriers introduced were bespoke and manufactured in-house at our own factory – so they suited the client’s requirements perfectly.

Added value:

In every project we undertake, we encourage our project teams to add value and reduce costs for clients. For Hotel Chocolat, we recommended the use of heavy duty, replaceable lower leg sections. This meant that parts of the system more susceptible to wear could be renewed when required, without having to replace larger sections of the system. The cost of ownership and maintenance over the life of the system was therefore significantly reduced.

DOCUMENTING INNOVATION FOR CINTAS

Client:
Cintas Document Management

Products utilised:
Archive box storage system

Cintas Document Management is part of one of the world’s largest business-to-business service providers, specialising in document storage and management. As a large and complex storage operation, their ability to utilise and maximise available space is key to attracting new clients and building on their success. A solution from WSL helped them do just that.

Our Solution

Our solution for Cintas was complex at both design and install points, yet simple in its objective: to make better use of the available space than competitor designs. We incorporated High-Density Multi-Tier Longspan Racking, with stairwells, handrails and pallet gates that were manufactured in-house.

The solution was implemented across three sites: Manchester, Charlton and Stroud, at a cost of around £1 million.

The UK Business was purchased by the American company prior to the implementation of these three projects. Our teams had cultivated such a strong reputation for quality and client service with the original business that the new owners recognised that WSL was the company to carry out the work without changes to budget, schedule or design.

Added value

Our project teams work very closely with clients to ensure that we support the overall needs of their business. In this case, Cintas continued to trade while our teams delivered the new storage solution. We found ways to ensure that the work could be completed without interfering with the client’s ongoing operations.

HELPING INSTARMAC CEMENT THEIR MARKET-LEADING STATUS

Client:
Instarmac Plc

Products utilised:
Shuttle Racking, Mesh Screens, Barriers

Instarmac Group plc is a market leader in the manufacture and distribution of cement, bitumen and resin based products to the world market. As sales hit record targets, they commissioned WSL to transform their storage capability, utilising the very latest systems and technologies within a £180,000 high density warehouse facility. Find out more

Instarmac Group plc is a market leader in the manufacture and distribution of cement, bitumen and resin based products to the world market. As sales hit record targets, they commissioned WSL to transform their storage capability, utilising the very latest systems and technologies within a £180,000 high density warehouse facility.

The challenge
Instarmac reviewed their warehousing capability because, as the company’s productivity increased, they needed to increase their efficiency and volumes. WSL’s storage strategy was therefore an integral element in their future growth; it would be a vital part of the platform on which Instarmac could further develop their business.

Their brief to WSL was simple: to dramatically improve the process that products follow from line manufacture to lorry loading. They wanted to make an award-winning distribution service made even more efficient: reducing order waiting times so that they became ‘almost non-existent’.

The solution

In January 2011, WSL completed the installation of new ‘intelligent’ storag

e system for Instarmac which holds 920 pallets in a marshalling area. The pallets are indexed with the use of Radioshuttles which lift each pallet and move them to the front picking face, ready for dispatch. The Radioshuttles are operated by radio transmitter and can perform a range of tasks: detecting pallets, stocking lanes to capacity and handling different pallet sizes. It can ensure ‘first-in, first-out’ stock rotation, creating leaner, fit-for-purpose processes.

Added value
WSL’s system greatly improved Instarmac’s speed at which products can be available for dispatch. At the same time, our system also reduced the need for multiple pallet movements and double handling via forklift. Pallet movements happen at the touch of a button, within a more condensed and efficient storage area. We therefore also helped the client save on driver-time, enabled them to use space more effectively and, in the long term, reduce the wear and tear caused by fork-lift trucks.

A SOLUTION FOR INNERGLASS IN A SIX-WEEK WINDOW

Innerglass is the UK’s largest independent national distributor of glassware, catering disposables and barware. When they moved their operation to a new, 60,000 square foot warehousing facility in Peterlee they needed to complete a full strip out and rebuild within a six week window.  After standing out from the competition Warehouse Systems were selected as their storage equipment contractor as well as principle contractor for the overall project.

In order to give reassurance to Innerglass, WSL took the management to see a previous project. As the locality suited, we chose Argos at Darlington – a project that WSL completed around 3 years ago, incorporating around 68,000 racked pallet locations. Needless to say, Innerglass were impressed with the installation and that Argos were still singing our praises.

With a contract value of £130,000, the Innerglass project offered the opportunity to define, design and implement a solution  for an organisation which had never used storage equipment on this scale before.  As Innerglass had grown so quickly in recent years, they were currently using a number of different storage options which was neither cost-effective nor convenient. They also had a large amount of product held offsite which they required to bring in house.

Our approach

Innerglass has relatively low volume of stock rotation and the majority of the workload is low-level picking from boxes. We therefore recommended an articulated Fork Lift Truck to maximise overall pallet capacity and incorporated decking to lower levels for boxed items, which made picking very efficient.

Altogether, the system incorporates over 4000 pallets weighing no more than 1000kgs. . Each run of racking within the system includes tubular racking barriers to protect against the impact of the Fork Lift Truck. These are fitted at the extreme ends and the cross aisle location.

Cross Aisle for forktrucks through racking system.

The full service

WSL provides a full project management service, so our teams also removed the existing system left by the building’s previous tenants. This included removing around 50,000 square feet of mezzanine flooring with sprinklers, lighting and smoke detection to the underside. We also removed garment hanging racking on both ground and mezzanine levels, which included  overhead slick  rail lines. Finally, four fire-clad staircases were also removed from the site, so that the new storage solution could be implemented exactly as planned.

Added value

The entire project was completed within a six-week window, deploying the safest methods of both the removal and new installation. We also identified that the existing lighting system could be re-used – which reduced the costs of the project significantly.

David Fishburn, Operations Manager for Innerglass, commented:

“From the outset, WSL tackled a complex project with assurance. The racking system solution recommended is exactly what is required to support our increase in business.”

REELVISION FOR THE FUTURE

Existing client Reelvision Print who specialize in small bespoke printed packaging solutions contacted WSL regarding installing further pallet spaces in their Factory and Warehouse in Haslingden, Lancashire , at the same time they were looking to install a mezzanine floor. Steve Moore (Quality Manager) had only associated WSL with Pallet Racking (if we had a pound for every time this happened !!) and did not think of us for the mezzanine. “It was only after I had seen several other mezzanine companies, of which none impressed me that I looked closer and realised Warehouse Systems designed and installed them” said Steve. After a lengthy site meeting at which we discussed several design options the solution was an extended staircase with large mid landing. “We needed to overcome a number of space issues and access problems” said Steve. “Warehouse Systems took their time to understand our concerns, and came up with a cost effective solution that suited all parties, we are looking forward to commencement of installation later this month”. For further information on the client visit their website at www.reelvisionprint.com