For Kettering-based print and communication company, Sterling Solutions, a lack of onsite storage was becoming an increasing headache. Family owned since 1990, Sterling Solutions, which has a long-established core business in the planning, creation, production and delivery of marketing materials for major blue-chip organisations across the UK, looked to Spaciotempo to provide a cost-effective warehousing solution designed to support the business as it continued its growth into 2014.
Richard Norman, Head of Change Management at Sterling, explains what drew them to Spaciotempo; To operate cost effectively in our market, we need to be able to purchase paper reels in bulk, but store them efficiently until they are needed. Due to the lack of space on our own premises, we had been paying a major distribution, warehousing and logistics company to store paper on our behalf, organising for a lorry to make a dedicated deliver every time we needed more stock.
We had been thinking about an alternative arrangement since 2011, but needed time to make sure that we chose the right solution to meet both Sterlings immediate needs, whilst also giving us the flexibility for the future. We could see that choosing a temporary building with its much shorter timeframe for installation would make sense, particularly when trying to match the current speed of growth we anticipated, and Spaciotempos offering seemed to stand out from the competition.
Scott Jameson, Managing Director at Spaciotempo takes up the story, explaining what was special about the building specification for Sterling Solutions; We like to work collaboratively with our customers and take the time to get to know their business so we can deliver a spec that will work for them in the long term. It is important to us to work with our customers throughout the design and installation process at Sterling we even secured planning consent through planning consultants, Cerda, ensuring the building complied with the same building regulations as a permanent structure.
We knew that cost effective bulk storage was so important to Sterling Solutions, but also that our building needed to provide the same safe handling and stability during paper loading and unloading as would be found in a permanent building. So we included a Hormann Dock Leveller Door in our spec (a first for Speciotempo!).
Designed to the same technical specification as a dock leveller loading bay found in a permanent building, Hormanns Dock Leveller Door means that the transport of stock from lorry to warehouse is seamless, and for maximum stability during docking, a special system for impact loading was mounted to the concrete floor.
The completed temporary warehouse, measuring 25m wide x 35m long x 8m high at the eaves, was installed on a dedicated raised, and levelled concrete pad, purpose designed by structural engineers.
For Sterling Solutions, the height of the building was crucial for cost-effective storage of stock at height. A real benefit of the Spaciotempo building is its lateral bracing, comments Sterlings Richard Norman. Having eight metres of height at the eaves gives us a storage capacity of over 12 metres at the buildings apex thanks to the small lateral bracing system.
The competitors alternative comes with a snowband at eave height which is a real inhibitor, both for lorries, and for stacking products at height into the roof. With Spaciotempos solution, we could bring all our storage needs in house and stack our stock as cost effectively as possible, saving us money and vital space. We have all the advantages of a permanent building, but with none of the drawbacks, and will certainly make Spaciotempo part of our warehousing solution for the future.