Sara Loading Bay Specialists Ltd

sara LBS is committed to supplying high quality products that are in compliance with all relevant UK and EU legislation. As part of this commitment it ensures that all of its sales and installation engineers are experienced in their field and knowledgeable on the latest developments within the industry. It’s now taking this training one step further, educating end users on maintenance and servicing techniques

Running a warehouse and logistics’ operation is an expensive business. Many of the major costs are absolutely fixed, so it is imperative that those costs that can be controlled are optimised against operational requirements. High-speed doors in the loading bays can significantly reduce heat and energy costs as well as increasing operational efficiency, providing improved security, hygiene and other benefits.

Modern automated warehouses are designed to be efficient. As one of the busiest working areas within any warehouse is the loading bay area, it makes sense that they are fitted with the best automation technologies available. Tony Saunders, National Sales Manager for sara LBS, explains how state-of-the-art, automated doors can facilitate productivity and also help to reduce running costs. 

sara LBS has appointed Tony Saunders to lead sales as it continues to grow within the UK market. The company is already recognised as a leading supplier and installer of premium loading bay solutions and high speed industrial doors. Tony will work closely with the existing sales team to continue expansion into industries such as pharmaceutical, food & beverage production, automotive and warehouse & distribution, whilst continuing to grow the company’s national maintenance and repair network.

Keeping any warehouse or distribution centre operating smoothly relies on each piece of equipment within the loading / unloading process operating smoothly and reliably. The sara LBS range of scissor lifts has a maximum load of 12 tonnes as standard and can be programmed to integrate with other equipment on-site. This leads to a safer and more productive environment, which in turn increases the profitability of operations.

In order to help isolate the hygiene critical production areas, two large food additive production sites have specified sara Sprint high speed roller doors. The sara LBS Sprint range, the company claims, offers the fastest operating speeds on the market which minimises the opportunity for contaminants to ingress into the protected areas. In addition, thanks to the premium quality of the product, a permanent tension is held on the door curtains, which creates a vermin seal when closed.

In the refurbishment of a vacant food distribution centre in Leicestershire, sara LBS was contracted to retro-fit new, high quality dock shelters to each of the building’s loading bays. The work involved renovating the 40+ loading bays to make sure that they provide efficient loading / unloading, whilst helping to protect the thermal efficiency of the building.    

sara Loading Bay Doors will be demonstrating its Rapid Protect 300 machinery protection door at this year’s Southern Manufacturing Exhibition in Farnborough, 13th-14th February. Designed to offer protection from welding splatter and other potential hazards to personnel and equipment, the door is an ideal addition to automated production lines in any industry. The demo door, found on stand M24, will be fully operational with sales representative on hand to answer questions.

sara LBS is offering maximum safety and thermal efficiency in all sectional overhead doors by specifying Kingspan certified Firesafe door panel material as standard. In the event of a fire, a door’s resistance levels can mean the difference between containing the fire to one area or it spreading throughout the building and putting lives at risk.

Loading dock seals at the Midland Co-operative Society Distribution Centre have been upgraded to sara LBS equipment after the original inflatable dock seals started to cause concern. The seals on all seven of the original loading bays had worn extremely quickly and lost vital insulation, resulting in increased energy costs for the distribution centre. The replacements, which were supplied and installed by sara LBS, offer effective insulation and require little maintenance.

Ed Wilks, Operations Manager at loading bay equipment specialist, sara LBS, looks back over sara’s developments in 2011 and discusses what is next for the industry. Two new additions to our popular sara LBS Sprint range of high-speed internal and external doors have seen sales grow considerably in the food processing and clean room sectors; offsetting the general slowdown in the construction of new warehouses that require complete new loading bay solutions including doors, scissor lifts, dock levellers and loading bay sealing pods. Retrofit and upgrade work on both internal and external access systems has also remained strong. The company specialises in hard wearing, but technically advanced solutions that improve safety, and reduce energy use, both of which are key issues for the industry going forwards.

sara LBS has been specified to install a number of products from its range of loading bay equipment and industrial doors into a leading chain’s supermarkets across the UK. Having previously worked with sara, the company was confident that the loading bay specialists would deliver high quality products that had been designed around their particular specifications.

To meet the specific requirements for hygiene and temperature stability in the food industry, sara LBS has developed the Rapid Food Door. Designed to give controlled access into or close off production, washing and storage areas, or to provide entry/exit to transport areas, the Rapid Food Door sets new standards for hygiene, efficiency and user safety, while providing rapid opening and closing to help. maintain consistent temperatures throughout the food processing environment

In the current climate of increasing energy costs and decreasing budgets, maintenance and procurement managers need to search out the most efficient technologies.

sara LBS’ new range of scissor lift tables conform to the highest safety standards in a wide range of applications. Constructed from steel for strength, the lifts have a maximum load of up to 12 tonnes as standard and include a number of safety features including a ‘dead-man’ safety switch and safety trip edge.

sara / LBS has overcome the historical problem of industrial doors with no specific certifications for clean room environments, by launching the sara Sprint Cleanroom Door: the first door to be tested by the Fraunhofer Institute for clean room suitability, and certified to EN ISO 14644-1 Class 5.

sara Loading Bay Specialists Ltd and IDS Industrial Doors Systems (Southern) Ltd have merged to become one company, sara/IDS Loading Bay Specialists Ltd. The merger has been undertaken to provide improved levels of efficiency and service to customers, giving them direct access to sales, service and technical expertise, by combining the capabilities of both companies in one purpose-built technical and sales facility located in Hemel Hempstead.

Partylite, a World leading candle manufacturer, has recently installed five dock levellers supplied by sara LBS into its main European manufacturing plant in Barrow, Cumbria. The plant needed to upgrade from its previous, manually operated, dock levellers to cut down on loading and unloading times and save labour. sara was found to offer the most cost competitive quote for the high quality equipment and service that was required.

Sara Loading Bay Specialists has recently received accreditation renewal from SAFEcontractor, a leading-edge programme that recognises very high standards of health and safety practice amongst UK contractors.

Sara’s dock loading pods provide a modern solution to the problems of optimising warehouse space, and to achieving control of temperature or hygiene during the loading/unloading process. The dock loading pods are complete loading bay enclosures that install directly onto buildings, marshalling warehouse space efficiently. In addition, an insulated housing provides a seal between the pod and vehicle, minimising heat loss, and ensuring hygiene and safety.