Europa Warehouse is a division of Europa Worldwide Group. Its 3PL sites in Birmingham, Corby and Dartford provide over a million sq. ft. of dedicated warehouse and logistics space. The company’s facilities are HMRC bonded, and Corby houses an £11m shared user automation system, offering value-added order fulfilment services.
Chris Kirby, General Manager for Corby Warehouse at Europa Warehouse speaks to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What are your best-known products/solutions/services?
Across our portfolio of warehouses, we are known for our collaborative approach and ability to innovate and adapt to resolve our customers’ pain points. However, in our Corby warehouse we offer semi-automated order fulfilment, which increases our throughput and streamlines our customers’ supply chains. Europa aims to always think of ways to make solutions even better for our customers, maintaining high-quality deliverables at a competitive price.
Which industry sectors are your customers in, and which ones are growing fastest?
In Corby, we have a variety of clients operating across sectors such as retail, eCommerce, and wholesale. Ecommerce has been a fast-growing sector for us, as the consumer demand for convenient speedy delivery of goods at a competitive price continues to increase. We also work with eCommerce and retail brands in beverage, like boxed wined company Laylo and subscription club, Craft Gin Club.
What are your most recent product innovations?
One of our recent innovations has been our £11m shared user automation system, which was installed in Corby in 2021. The system autonomously stores goods in 36k totes and picks up to 100k units in a 24-hour period with 99.99 per cent accuracy. We also invested in achieving HMRC Customs Accreditation, which includes both Wet and Dry Bond, so that customers can defer payments on duty and VAT and better control cashflows.
What are the major trends and developments affecting your category and your customers, and how are you responding?
The biggest trend for warehousing is accelerating the ‘digital transformation’, with robotics and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) playing an increasingly prominent role in warehouse operations. Technology is becoming increasingly common in repetitive tasks like picking and packing, to increase efficiency and accuracy. We are constantly monitoring this, and will work towards innovating within our warehouses to increase efficiencies, lower costs where possible and strengthen our service to customers.
What’s the latest news from your company?
We recently reported a 45 per cent increase in total orders picked in December 2023 in Corby. Furthermore, our European road freight division, Europa Road, has successfully returned to offering guaranteed pre-Brexit delivery times across Europe.
Are you investing in staff training and skills development?
Our team members are fundamental in the success of all our operations so therefore we will always recognise their hard work and look at opportunities to upskill and promote within wherever possible. In 2023 we enrolled a number of managerial courses with many more planned for 2024.
Can you tell us about any areas where you’re currently making technical advances e.g. safety, sustainability, environment?
At Europa Warehouse, we work alongside third parties to implement technology for the reporting of accidents, incidents and near misses. This way, we are given simple, efficient analytics to inform new best practice and improve the health, safety, and wellbeing of the working environment. We also run quarterly inhouse competitions across our warehouses, which encourage the adoption of safer practices. It iss initiatives and good practice that led to us gaining a prize at the Northamptonshire Logistics Awards for Health, Safety and Wellbeing.
How does business in 2023 compare to previous years? What’s your strategy for succeeding in the current climate?
We are hoping that we can continue to support our customers as the economic climate remains challenging. Due to Europa’s investments in its logistics operations over recent years, including its shared user automation, the most recent peak period was the most efficient of any recent years’ peaks. We will continue to innovate and adapt where possible to keep providing flexible logistics solutions for our customers.
Europa
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