Fuchs Lubricants invest £5 million in new warehouse

Construction of warehouse facility gets underway at company’s Staffordshire headquarters 

FUCHS Lubricants are set to open a new £5 million warehouse at their headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The facility forms part of a £10 million investment programme at the company, which has also seen the introduction of a range of innovative manufacturing plant machinery and a new multi-line pallet loading robotic arm.

Construction on the new fully automated high-bay warehouse is due for completion in the second quarter of 2020. When completed, the warehousing unit will have a capacity of around 4,000 pallet spaces, with the ability for automatic or manual storage place allocation.

The new building will significantly increase the amount of raw materials Fuchs can store on site. The construction project will also allow an existing building to become a specialist packaging warehouse.

Mark Gray, head of operations for Fuchs Lubricants, said: ‘We have an ambition to place the company 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 warehouse includes sophisticated automation, which will future-proof the business and create cost-saving benefits.’

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

The warehouse will also be supported by high-tech warehouse control and management- systems; streamlining operations and improving efficiencies with enhanced inventory support and batch traceability.