New materials warehouse under construction at FUCHS in Staffordshire

The warehouse is the latest step in a £10 million investment programme at FUCHS UK, which has also seen the introduction of a range of innovative manufacturing plant machinery and a new multi-line pallet loading robot arm.

Building work began in August and the framework structure and roof have now been completed. The external cladding is now also well underway.

The fully automated high bay warehouse is due for completion in the second quarter of 2020 and will significantly increase the amount of raw materials the business can store on-site. Its construction will also allow an existing building to become a specialist packaging warehouse.

Mark Gray, head of operations said: “We have an ambition to place FUCHS Lubricants at the forefront of R&D, manufacturing and distribution of lubricants in the UK. This raw materials warehouse represents a significant investment for the business, and a further step towards that goal."

The company says the sophisticated automation of the warehouse will future-proof the business and create cost-saving benefits.

Two wire guided driverless very narrow aisle trucks will operate in the warehouse, benefitting from high travel and lift speeds, without operator intervention.

The warehouse has a capacity of approximately 4,000 pallet spaces, with ability for automatic or manual storage place allocation.

The high-tech warehouse control and warehouse management systems streamline the process, with benefits including goods receipt entry and booking, a paperless put away process, inventory support and batch traceability.

FUCHS Lubricants is the UK arm of the lubricants manufacturer and is based in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

FUCHS UK www.fuchs.com/uk