Following an increase in demand, Crawley-based storage and distribution company Eezehaul moved into a new 80,000 sq ft facility, more than doubling its covered storage and outside space.
However, while the unit was originally built as a distribution centre, it had most recently been used as a car showroom, so it required considerable development work to make it suitable for Eezehaul’s needs.
“Our original warehouse was around 30,000 sq ft,” explains Simon Duggan, Eezehaul’s commercial director. “We looked around for other sites that offered greater capacity, but purpose built units of the size that we wanted are relatively scarce in the South East. The new facility has nine loading docks – which is ideal – but it needed additional office space, racking and other cosmetic changes.”
One of the first phases of the redevelopment project was the design and build of a racked storage area, which after an open tender process, the contract was awarded to Jungheinrich.
The new racking system provides some 5,000 pallet locations, with the top beam of the racking structure reaching 7.8 metres high, while the aisles are 3.1 metres wide.
The company had considered condensing the aisles to accommodate more space but because Eezehaul undertakes case picking at ground level while full pallets are picked from the upper levels, wider aisles were considered a better option as the extra width means that both functions can take place efficiently and safely.
