SMT GB relocate Birmingham support facility

Company celebrates opening of new, larger, more modern customer support centre in Brownhills

AFTER more than 40 years of occupancy at their Minworth site, SMT GB have moved their Birmingham team into a larger, more modern, and strategically superior site in Brownhills, West Midlands.

‘Thanks to the success of our support services, we had outgrown the old site,’ said regional service delivery manager Richard Baker. ‘A larger facility was needed in order to support our growth ambitions and to deliver the best-in-class service support for our customers.’

At 17,227 square feet (1.72 acres), not only is the new Birmingham site 48% larger than the previous Minworth site, but it also benefits from modern and well-thought-out workshop facilities that are accessible from both sides of the building, with improved access for delivery vehicles. This greatly improves on-site efficiency and ergonomics, whilst also increasing the workshop capacity by five times compared with the old site.

‘In conjunction with the increased capacity, we have recruited additional workshop engineers and are continuing to develop a team of apprentices on site as well as at college,’ continued Mr Baker.

The new facility has 10 workshop bays equipped with new tooling and equipment that incorporates the latest technology and safe systems of work. The site also benefits from a vertical storage system that boosts floor space by 85% and provides 99.9% accuracy, with increased capacity for essential parts and tooling.

Moreover, the new site’s close proximity to several major motorways, including the M6 Toll, ensures SMT GB are able to provide better coverage to the local and national customers that the Birmingham facility serves.

The new location also provides the ability to support key current and future national infrastructure projects, such as HS2. Located at the new site is the HS2 support team, which schedules and plans service support through a dedicated team of engineers, each of whom has a fully customized and equipped 4x4 vehicle.

The location move has also met with the approval of the Birmingham customer support staff, who benefit from the newly fitted and modern two-storey office facility attached to the new site. But whilst the new site boasts state-of-the-art facilities, SMT GB’s ambitious sustainability goals ensure that there is still room for improvement to be made.

Commenting on work planned for the future, Richard Baker said: ‘Our aim is to make the site carbon neutral through various improvements such as renewable energy generated on site, wastewater recycling, and employing various energy-saving devices. We also aim to create an eco-friendly garden by planting more pollinators in green spaces and creating natural habitats for insects, animals, and birds.

‘All of these objectives not only contribute to a better working environment for our team, but they also support our aim of becoming a carbon-neutral company.’