Ready to head out

Quickslide has improved the dispatch centre at its production facility.

Over the past 18 months, Quickslide committed to fulfilling its £2 million programme of growth, with the most recent phase being work on the new dispatch centre, which was completed in July by Cleckheaton Construction.

The improved dispatch centre has been designed so that Quickslide has one dedicated facility that all finished goods from its multiple factories filter in to. This means handling of goods is kept to a minimum, and delivery vehicles can be loaded more quickly and safely, ultimately enabling Quickslide to service its customers faster and more effectively, the company said.

Its reorganisation has also created an optimised layout and freed up valuable space, which can now be used in the manufacturing process rather than to simply house finished products. There is also now a designated space for training in the new unit.

The improvements to the dispatch centre complement other investments in efficiency made at the factory, including the installation of a Schirmer CNC machine, two corner cleaners, and two quad welders, plus an expanded vehicle fleet.

Recent changes in shift patterns have also increased productivity, meaning more goods, which can now be better moved out through the newly streamlined dispatch centre.

“The whole new set-up provides us with an extra 30% capacity on one shift or 100% if we run to split shifts,” Ben Weber, Quickslide’s managing director, said.

“This flexibility ensures we needn’t endure this irritating yo-yo of delivery times and can help our partners out at times of urgency. It also allows more intelligent batching, better optimisation and more efficient logistics, passing on some savings to ensure better margins can continue to be achieved by our installer partners.”