Narrow Aisle’s new storage solutions team has been established to help intralogistics professionals utilise their warehouse buildings in the most space, cost and throughput efficient way possible, explains the company’s Paul MacBeath
Creating space
With the fallout from the pandemic and Brexit continuing to impact on manufacturing and retail supply chains, UK warehouse space remains in short supply. In fact, the lack of quality storage buildings has become so acute in some places that one leading industrial property consultancy recently forecast that parts of Britain could completely run out of vacant facilities within the next 12 months.
So, warehouse managers and intralogistics professionals find themselves under tremendous pressure to utilise every cubic foot available to them in the most space, cost and throughput efficient ways possible.
But it is often the case that the role that a building was originally designed to perform has changed completely and, as a result, the unit’s storage system is no longer as effective as it could be. This usually indicates that some reconfiguration of the layout of the racking and shelving is required.
By redesigning a facility’s storage scheme and introducing new materials handling technology to complement it, an existing warehouse gets a whole new lease of life. In many instances this will mean that the need to outsource part or all the storage operation to a third party can be avoided, as can the expense and disruption to the business of moving to a new building.
Narrow Aisle’s new warehouse planning team works with clients to develop the best possible intralogistics solution to meet the unique needs of each application.
By offering a complete service from design through to the supply and installation of storage schemes and materials handling equipment we can help warehouse operators get the most out of a new building or make real operational improvements to an existing facility.
When designing a warehouse layout – whether for a new building or as part of an upgrade at an existing site – we consider a broad range of handling and storage solutions before deciding what system would be best for a company’s needs.
All too often companies are forced to adopt solutions from a narrow range of options because they are working with a warehouse planning partner or systems integrator that is tied to the products or services of one supplier. Indeed, time and again, I have visited sites where glaringly unsuitable products have been shoe-horned into the design for no better reason than they are the only products that the system planner has to offer.
But at Narrow Aisle we pull together the crucial operational components required to create a cohesive solution for our clients and seek out the best products for their needs.
Modern warehousing is all about maximising whatever space you have available and, because we have access to a broad range of storage solutions – including wide, narrow, double deep, drive-in, powered mobile, shuttle, cantilever and push-back racking along with a host of accessories – we can identify, design and deliver the right storage plan without being restricted by the need to incorporate a particular product type – or the materials handling equipment required to serve it.
As you would expect, we can demonstrate a detailed knowledge of racking design and safety as well as compliance with all relevant Standards. After all, building a storage scheme is a lot more complicated than putting up shelves in the garage and these complex structures need to be professionally designed to suit each particular application.
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