Warehouse - United Kingdom Warehousing Association

46 Cover StoryAPEX Linvar the partner of choice for the warehouse sectorExpertise, experience and holistic thinking make APEX Linvar the partner of choicefor many warehouse operators and logistics companies across the UK.Smyths ToysSpeedCellMay 2013Commercially-aware and resultsorientedproject teams have used theirknowledge and skill to help the supplychain become even more efficient andeffective, which is particularly relevant aseCommerce becomes more of a factor inday-to-day operations.APEX Linvar is capable of delivering totalstorage solutions, from the office to thewarehouse, by offering a complete range ofsolutions including innovative products suchas SpeedCell, the unique mobile rackingsolution, and Meta shelving.Its Storage Direct brand, with its onlineand offline offering, provides a trulycomprehensive range of storage productsand is used by schools and hospitals,offices, small shops and warehouses.Working with household names such asRiver Island and Smyths Toys, amazon andArgos, APEX Linvar has the right pedigreeto solve any storage issues.For more information, visitwww.apexlinvar.co.ukToys storageGetting the right racking isn’t child’s play- except when it is about toys. From theoutside, a warehouse on the outskirts ofStoke-on-Trent looks like any otherdistribution centre on an industrial park butthe products it houses are the stuff ofdreams for many youngsters.Storing everything from nursery productsto preschool, bikes, books and activity kits,the 415,000 sq ft facility is Smyths Toys’ UKdistribution centre.Serving 35 retail outlets, and storingaround 3,500 different products, thewarehouse has space for up to 63,000pallets - all stored using pallet racking andshelving supplied by British manufacturerAPEX Linvar.Picking at the site is done at night, with acarefully-orchestrated delivery schedulethroughout the day and an automaticwarehouse replenishment system ensuringthe right products are picked at the righttime.Smyths Toys first moved in to thepremises in April 2012, after taking thedecision to take distribution andwarehousing in-house and relocating stockfrom two existing sites.www.ukwa.org.ukBut with efficiency and effectiveness atthe heart of an operation that can see up to1,200 pallets being shipped out and 2,000pallets taken into the site in just one day,storage has to be organised andmaximised.And that’s where the experience andexpertise of APEX Linvar, the UK’s leadingstorage solutions provider, came in.Its experts know that even with big openspaces in a warehouse, getting the rightconfiguration is critical to making sureproducts can be stored and retrievedeffectively.And, as retail has seasonal influences,such as Summer and Christmas, thestorage solution has to offer flexibility.The APEX Linvar solution was to installracking 15 metres high in two mainsections, leaving an area set aside for bulkitems.The first section of racking is currently inday-to-day use and is stocked with toys,while the second section is installed andready to be utilised as and when required.Both capitalise on the full height of thebuilding.Fashioning a solutionImagine being able install racking thatworks while at the same time addingthousands of extra picking locations in asingle aisle, freeing up storage spaceelsewhere, just by thinking about howspace is used.High Street fashion retailer River Islanddid just that when the company waslooking at how best to utilise space andstorage within its state-of-the-art 466,000sq ft national distribution centre at MagnaPark in Milton Keynes.As Arif Ahmed, River Island’s logisticsdirector, says, the company is at the cuttingedge of fashion and therefore its productturn is demanding.To cope with this demand, the companyrequired a custom racking solution fit fornow and for the future and integratedstorage that worked as part of the wholesite, not just an after-thought.APEX Linvar delivered a strategy that sawthe company develop a projectmanagement team that worked witharchitects, the M&E team and structural