Essex-based storage specialist Eastwood has fitted-out an extensive pallet racking facility at a new distribution centre for houseware distributor Russel. It has created a more effective product bulk store, allowing staff within the new 2,976sq m distribution centre to progress orders more efficiently despite an increase in the range of products now available.
Russel is one of the largest international distributors of a wide variety of houseware products including kitchen utensils, woodware and soft-storage items. The move into different products brought its own problems – the need for increased storage capacity. The company moved into a new distribution centre in Laindon, Essex last year.
The main warehouse features an Eastwood Pallet-Rack storage solution that provides a flexible bulk-store to cope with the increased product range. There are 13 pick faces, each five rows high providing high-density bulk-storage. They are designed to hold palletised loads allowing easy fork-truck access for retrieval and replenishment.
Eastwood had previously installed racking at another warehouse for Russel three years earlier, but it was not cut-and-dried that it would win the contract for the new centre. Chris Goodlife, operations director at Russel, says: “To continue our planned growth we must remain competitive in all aspects of our business and when it comes to spending money we ensure that we get the best at the right price. Eastwood was one of a number of companies approached. They responded very quickly with a quotation and plans of the proposed racking solution, and we were given assurances on a completion date.”
