Doors, curtains and loading bays play an important part in helping warehouses make a winning impression – in aesthetic appearance, energy efficiency and environmental impact.
One area of the warehouse and logistics market that has seen quite a bit of activity in the last few months is in the improved insulation qualities of distribution warehouses, says Alan Jenkins, Commercial Director of leading doors and curtains supplier Hormann UK.
“The third party logistics specialists who pay for the running costs of the sheds are becoming increasingly aware and concerned about the rising costs of gas and electricity and road fuel, and are therefore are looking to ensure their building meet or exceed current environmental standards. Developers themselves are also looking to ensure their building are even more air tight and thermally efficient.”
Hormann has responded to this with the introduction of the ‘Thermoframe,’ which can improve the ‘U’ value of a standard 42mm thick PU sectional door by as much as 20% and the 80mm thick PU panel by as much as 40%. The Thermoframe can not only be fitted to new doors but also retrofitted to existing Hormann doors. Talking to a major big shed developer recently, Alan Jenkins told WLN, it was suggested that as each existing shed lease comes up for re-let, that all the doors should automatically be retrofitted with the new ‘Thermoframe’, improving the air tightness of the building at a stroke.
Hormann’s industrial business has picked up significantly on last year, says Alan, “and we also have a much higher order bank. Many projects shelved in 2009/10 have now come back for re-tendering. We have noticed the improvement not just in the warehouse and logistics market but also in manufacturing, in particular the food and pharmaceutical industries. As we have not been so reliant on the public sector, we do not feel we will be unduly affected by the Government cuts in expenditure.”
Many British business managers would love to give the Chancellor a piece of their mind. Alan Jenkins says, “My message to Mr Osborne would be yes by all means look to cut budgets in sectors that are inefficient and leaching money, but make more money available in soft loans to those UK manufacturers that wish to expand, especially those that have a healthy export market. With raw materials and fuel costs the way they are and unlikely to see a reduction, we should be able to produce a lot of what we buy on the High Street here in the UK. Look at Nissan and Vauxhall’s recent decisions regarding extending their production facilities here. These companies should be applauded along with all other manufacturers that wish to grow here.”
Warehouse & Logistics News
Comments are closed.