Midlands based material handling equipment manufacturer George Utz Limited has invested substantially in additional storage facilities at its site at Clover Nook Industrial Estate, Alfreton, with the construction of four new silos holding a total of 800 tonnes of bulk raw material (plastic polymers) .
George Utz Ltd is the UK operation of the Swiss-owned Utz Group, which also has subsidiaries in Germany, France, Poland, USA and China. Here in the UK they have been well known for many years as a high quality manufacturer of returnable materials handling solutions to British and European industry, across many sectors including automotive, retail, postal services and distribution. Their products include containers and inserts, pallets, dollies and pallet boxes.
The silos have been produced by Braby Limited, the UK’s leading manufacturer of aluminium and stainless steel silos, tanks and bulk storage systems. The silos, which stand 20 metres tall and 4.5 metres in diameter, are manufactured in Bristol from a high grade aluminium alloy, similar to that used for ship-building. On 11 May 2010, following weeks of ground work to prepare for the new facilities, including changes to the road infrastructure to allow access for deliveries, they were mounted onto load cells and hoisted into place by two industrial cranes .
The new silos will increase George Utz’s storage capacity by a massive 130%. This will eliminate the risk of inventory shortage and also ensures raw materials can be sourced when market prices are attractive for projects. Those savings can then be passed on to Utz’s customers and gives the project partner planning security regarding the budget.
Despite the recent economic pressures, George Utz has continued to grow here in the UK, both in revenue and number of staff. General Manager Carsten Diekmann is excited about the new facilities at Alfreton: “We have recently secured a number of large orders from many well known High Street retailers, and it is vital that we have the raw materials on site ready to meet our customers’ demands. This additional storage means that we can maintain our competitive advantage and offer significant cost savings to our valued customers.”
Carsten is very proud of Utz’s achievements in the UK, and puts their success down to their attention to ‘best in class’ design and innovative manufacturing processes. Speaking about Utz’s UK team, Carsten adds “We all make a great effort to understand the total usage cycle of the proposed solution, from factory gate to final recycling. We pride ourselves on co-operation, quality and customer-focused project management.”
As part of the project, George Utz is also installing Braby’s “Vessel Link” online monitoring system, which will enable users to access accurate stock information from anywhere in the world and from any PC with a web browser. The package comprises a data capture unit and GSM modem with data recovered from the instrument at predetermined intervals from one minute to any specified frequency. This data is uploaded at regular intervals via GSM modem to a secure website.
George Utz Ltd
Tel: 01773 543 170
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