Welcome to the June 15th edition of Warehouse & Logistics. In these pages we are proud to bring you our pre-event supplement for the 2019 UKWA Awards, taking place at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London on Thursday June 27th. Marking UKWA’s 75th Anniversary milestone, there is a very special guest of honour at the Awards, HRH The Princess Royal. As we celebrate excellence in our industry, we would like to congratulate everyone shortlisted for an award.

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Speaking of winners, congratulations twice over to Exide Industries, Espex Batteries’ parent company, on receiving double honours at the SAP Innovation Awards 2019, as we reveal in our Power Sources feature. The company’s Connected Battery Initiative won the Global Industry Disruptor Award. Exide was also recognised as an innovation leader on an international scale.

The potential consequences of not properly maintaining industrial doors and shutters can be disastrous. In our Doors feature, the Door & Hardware Federation’s campaign to encourage regular maintenance was triggered by a near-fatal warehouse accident in 2012 after a roller shutter failed. The ensuing investigation blamed this on a lack of regular and proper maintenance of the roller shutter and the victim’s employers were fined £30,000 after being prosecuted under health and safety legislation.

Doors are also a key component of modular docks, AKA dock loading pods or loading houses, which are sealed to buildings around the outer edges of existing doorframes, enabling efficient loading bays to be retrofitted in otherwise unpromising locations. On our cover you can read sara LBS’ case study about how their modular dock provided the solution to a problem which flummoxed the architect. The client wanted to expand its production floor, but didn’t think they had space for new loading bays. There was also the need to maintain hygiene barriers between the super-clean interior and the outside. The architect later admitted the new pods enhanced the building’s appearance, which is praise indeed.

Back to our features and the pressure is on our food and drink supply chains to keep perishable goods in perfect condition from farm to fork, setting the bar high for cold storage operations. Our Cold Storage feature includes details of the TCS&D Show on 25th-26th June at Peterborough’s East of England Arena, the UK’s only dedicated event for the cold storage and distribution sector.

Some exhibitors are reporting a spike in demand for cold storage solutions, including Martin Taylor, Estimating Manager at ISD Solutions, the cold store construction contractor, who says he’s seen significant growth in contract wins for cold stores recently.

If you’re going to TCS&D, the UKWA Awards or both, we’ll look forward to seeing you there. We’ll have full details of the UKWA winners in our next issue.

JAMES SURRIDGE

Publishing Editor

james@warehousenews.co.uk

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