Drastic changes to customers ’ ordering patterns gave rise to some head scratching at VBH ’ s sales and distribution centre in Swansea recently .

The Swansea centre serves VBH ’ s customers in Wales and South West England , and it had become apparent that more stock needed to be held locally to help react most efficiently to the requirements of customers whose hardware uptake had rapidly increased or , in some cases , had become erratic .

The focus was to ensure that sales orders from Welsh and South Western customers in 2022 and beyond would be supplied complete first time from Swansea , without the need

There are various reasons that glass is in short supply and varied responses throughout the supply chain . For one company however , the decision to put allocations in place for its customers , became not just a short-term solution but a welcome way of working . Co-MD at Oakland Glass Amanda Falsey explains why :

“ Prior to the glass shortage , we ’ d already thought about allocation , especially in busier times . We worked with our historical data and discussions with customers around expected volumes , in order to set the correct allocations that worked for both of us .

“ We did meet some resistance at first , both

to ship part orders from other VBH sites .

Floor area was at maximum capacity so Dave Prout , VBH Operations

internally and from our customers . But as the glass shortages intensified , our customers realised that through this communication and set number of units , they could plan their work , with certainty .

“ Our service team is second-to-none , but this new way of working has further improved on that . Now customers all have their own Account Holder , and in-house we can plan production and transportation better .

“ The glass shortage has by no means been an easy situation for any of us , but at Oakland , allocation seems to be a silver lining .”

www . oaklandglass . co . uk

Manager - Swansea , and his team decided that the only way was up . They designed and installed high level picking spaces and

pallet racking to take full advantage of the building height . The re-design has allowed for a deeper stock holding of VBH Swansea ’ s most popular lines , including those from the greenteQ brand , and has created an extra 120 pallet spaces with no loss of picking shelves for smaller , slower moving products .

As part of the warehouse upgrade VBH have also invested in a new high-level order picker to be used in the narrow aisle design layout . The picker is capable of reaching all levels of racking and is computer guided to allow for safe working in narrow aisles .

www . vbhgb . com

As part of a creative campaign to promote the Secured by Design accreditation for their LPU42 and LPU67 sectional garage doors , the Hörmann team have jumped in front of the camera to create their latest block buster entitled Hörmann Alone - an eye-catching industry movie like no other .

Having undergone considerable make-up and styling , industry stalwarts Alex MacKay and Stuart Shaw star as ‘ plumbers in a van ’ in a tongue in cheek take on a popular series of American Christmas comedy films . Expert Alice , from the RollMatic T promotional film , provides our two hapless characters with sage advice on the benefits of Hörmann sectional garage doors with Secured by Design accreditation .

An online SBD registration site has also been launched , which includes information on the scheme and a simple registration system . To be valid Hörmann LPU42 and LPU67 automated garage doors must be :

• Registered with Hörmann

• Installed behind the opening

• Combined with a Hörmann operator

• Unmodified and not include any glazing options or external handles

• Fitted after 01.05.2021

Impressively , the Hörmann sectional doors passed in their standard format with no modifications or additions required and SBD applies to the full range of sizes available .

Marketing Manager at Hörmann UK , David O ’ Mara comments , “ The Secured by Design accreditation for our sectional doors is important to both Hörmann and our dealers . Following on the success of our RollMatic T campaign video , a movie style promotion was the obvious way to go .”

www . hormannsecuredbydesign . splashthat . com