Loading bays undergo refurbishment at distribution centre

The warehouse used to function as a key distribution centre for a leading supermarket chain, with different areas for storing food in frozen, chilled and ambient temperatures. This design makes the building extremely useful for other food retailers who are looking to expand their distribution networks. However, the building has been unused for several years and much of the equipment, inside and out, is in need of reparation or even complete replacement.

The size of the building easily accommodates over 40 loading bays which service the different storage areas. Due to the multifunction nature of the building, however, none of the loading bays conform to a uniform design. Rather, there are many different designs, which accommodate different vehicles in different situations. Initially the project’s main contractors, Martin Evans Construction, planned to repair the dock shelters rather than trying to source replacements for all of the different designs. However, sara LBS was able to offer an efficient proposal for retrofitting new equipment.

Martin Evans, comments: “The purpose of the project is to bring the warehouse centre up to date so that it can once again be used for efficiently storing and distributing all types of food around the region. The sara dock shelters are vital to this efficiency as they help to protect the internal space from the external environment, effectively sealing in the temperature and securing the thermal efficiency during loading and unloading. sara LBS was able to retrofit new dock shelters to each of the different loading bay designs.”

sara LBS specialises in the design, supply, installation, maintenance and repair of loading bays and associated accessories. With many years of experience in the industry, its engineers are able to assess technologies on-site and offer recommendations on whether to repair or replace based on cost effectiveness. In the case of the refurbishment project, it was recommended that the dock shelters were replaced with newer, more efficient models. sara LBS was able to design solutions bespoke to each of the loading bay designs, making sure that every bay was protected to the highest standard possible.

Alan Ryder, Sales Manager for sara LBS, adds: “The real beauty of this project was that we were able to accommodate each of the loading bays with a specific dock shelter design. We offer dock shelters for ambient areas as well as inflatable dock shelters and foam docking pads, suitable for ambient and chilled areas. It was this variation that allowed us to deliver the cost effective, practical solution.”