The UK supply chain has been experiencing an extensive shift in strategy, as businesses move away from a ‘just in time’ (JIT) manufacturing model. The recent change has pushed multiple industries into a new direction, choosing a storage-heavy process instead. Within the materials handling industry, this has resulted in an increased demand for the Aislemaster.
How is the Industry Changing?
In the past, JIT, also known as lean manufacturing, was the predominant production method across almost every industry. JIT ensures that manufacturers only produce the exact amount of stock necessary at any given time. This standard protects businesses from stock wastage and minimises space requirements. However, recent global disruptions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and geopolitical tensions have exposed the vulnerabilities of relying on this specific strategy.
Minimal inventory during these disruptions led to significant delays and shortages and businesses across the UK began to look for ways to mitigate the risks of this occurring again. The result has been several new strategies, including a hybrid approach, a ‘just in case’ approach, and a nearshoring and reshoring approach.
Hybrid
A hybrid strategy has enabled businesses to keep up with demand by keeping key materials and components on hand, while still utilising the lean principles of JIT. As a result, companies can stand up to the continuously changing economic world while maintaining efficiency.
Just in Case
Some businesses have chosen to invest in safety stock, always guaranteeing the presence of critical items. This decreases the chance of delays and offers greater security but leads to higher storage costs.
Nearshoring and reshoring
For other companies, shifting production closer to home or reshoring back to the UK has been the right choice. Minimising the length of the supply chain helps boost production and minimise the opportunity for delays but is also a costly choice.
What Does this Mean for Materials Handling?
While the UK is not abandoning the principles of JIT entirely, the transformation has put an additional strain on the already stretched warehousing and storage sectors. The same amount of space is required to store significantly more stock, and as a result the industry requires revolutionary materials handling equipment to manage such complex spaces.
In the past, reach trucks were the most popular materials handling equipment for warehousing and storage. They generally require an aisle width of 2.8 meters to operate safely, which in a busy, well-stocked warehouse is rarely available these days due to the additional strains mentioned above. They are also only designed to work inside on a smooth warehouse floor, meaning their usage is limited in an ever-evolving business environment.
The Aislemaster articulating truck is an ideal alternative, resolving many of these problems. Able to operate inside & outside in as little as 1.6 metres, this truck enables businesses to increase the number of aisles within a warehouse, utilising 50% more of the building footprint. By switching to the Aislemaster, businesses can dramatically increase storage capacity and keep pace with fluctuations in demand.
Doing Things the Dawsongroup Way
While there are several costs involved in changing racking layouts and material handling solutions, the only other alternative is to extend existing premises or move operations into a bigger, more expensive facility. The Aislemaster enables you to avoid these additional costs and with a Dawsongroup Smarter Asset Strategy, access to this revolutionary forklift comes without the threat to capital. Available on flexible contract hire, we remove the pressure of asset maintenance, allowing you to make the right choices for your business, without significant stress on your finances.
