Until recently, the unexpected and expected need for extra warehousing on site usually meant the landing of a large new contract, a fire, a need to ramp up for seasonal periods like Christmas or just business growth outgrowing one’s existing warehousing. One solution to this could be resorting to third party logistics operators (3PLs) or warehouse agents to find extra space when needed. Another could be to consider if installing mezzanine levels would help or if a change in existing pallet racking configurations and forklifts might be feasible. Narrowing existing counterbalance forklift aisles from a typical 3.6mt to 1.8mt by switching to articulated forklifts, for example, could yield an extra 33-50% storage space.
In the current climate, looking at existing warehouses for hiring space may be a daunting task because according to a survey of UKWA members earlier this year, of the 85% of members surveyed about 75% were unable to take on more business. Unsurprisingly, storage costs were said to have soared by up to 25% over the preceding three months before the survey, and the culprit was stock piling for Brexit.
There is, however, often one option to meet the exigencies of a second Brexit extension, namely temporary warehouses, provided the land is available on site. The allure of these buildings is their great flexibility and range of offerings which can be hired or bought. Depending on the type of building, they can be delivered within a matter of days or weeks, have little planning permission obstacles and be tailored to your specific storage needs.
Let’s get one thing clear, however, about ‘temporary’. This is something of a misnomer because their life spans can be 30 years or more. A good example is Rubb Buildings provision of ‘temporary’ storage for the port of Tilbury, which was even resurrected over the years. This 30-year old building was brought back to life several times to support the relocation goals of the port planners and a long-term customer. The original temporary warehouse had a 30mt twin span by 102mt, installed in 1990, and was relocated to another berth and extended to 138mt long for a new customer. Such metamorphosis was helped by its modular design.
There is no type of storage operation outside of cold stores (semi-permanents like those from Spaciotempo excepted) that a temporary building could not be adapted to suit. If, for example, temperature control is not required then Aganto’s ‘Protect Range’ uses a single skin roofing as an economical solution. Its Insulated Range, which uses a double skin PVC polyester membrane filled with air, provides effective temperature and sound insulation, while cutting condensation and mould. Buildings can be fully or partly insulated.
In any warehouse, part of a facilities manager’s responsibilities is to ensure that the environment is as clean as reasonably possible but the usual cleaning methods may not be enough, and it does not help if diesel/LPG trucks are extensively used internally. Layers of dust can be more than just a cosmetic problem. They can impair product quality and the functionality of the equipment, possibly leading to delays and threatening delivery reliability. High dust levels can also harm the workforce’s health. One effective solution could be an air cleaning like that provided by Zehnder Clean Air Solutions to DB Schenker. Its patented combination of two filters uses mechanical and electrostatic charge to bind fine and course dust while the downstream media filter traps the dust particles that have not yet been caught. At one Schenker warehouse, depending on the location, a cut of up to 87% of dust has been achieved.
Charles Smith
Feature Writer
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