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MAKING SPACE FOR THE FUTURE
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Rows of metal shelving serviced by robots travelling along a track sounds like a scene from a Blade Runner. But this is the impressive space developed by a forward-thinking storage solutions company in Chorley.
The Effi Centre is the result of a £350,000 investment by Brysdales in Drumhead Road and is home to a fully functioning automated storage facility. It is used to demonstrate to new and existing customers how robotics can help them utilise space and their workforce more efficiently.
Speaking from the portion of the firm’s warehouse given over to house the automated development, managing director Elizabeth Porter explained how important it is for her industry to join the AI revolution.
She said: “The world has to evolve. You can’t just keep doing what you have always been doing, and everything is AI now, it’s the direction of travel.
“In a warehouse environment today, you haven’t got the staff coming through, so
companies don’t have the people to do some of the work. If you can bring in an element of automation to lessen the effect of somebody moving from one side of the warehouse to another, be that for manufacturing, picking or storing, some of these systems will pay for themselves within 12 months.”
Interest in the automated systems is already growing, with TV shopping channel bosses from QVC planning a visit in the near future, and discussions ongoing with Vimto manufacturer Refresco.
Brysdales is one of the leading providers of racking and shelving, archive storage solutions and partitioning, mezzanines and material handling equipment in the UK. It helps companies to maximise their workspace by designing storage systems to meet their specific needs.
And while robotics and automation is the future, the past is still very important. Now in its 55th year, Brysdales has not forgotten where it came from.
Elizabeth said: “I’ve always been driven to
keep the business moving forward and to continue growing, but we’ve never lost sight of what we do best – understanding space and designing the right solutions for our customers. Whatever direction we take, that remains at the heart of everything we do.
“I’ve never believed in diversifying too far away from our core. For me, it’s less about chasing new directions and more about supporting people – our customers and our team – to achieve the very best from the space and resources they have.”
Elizabeth’s story itself is impressive. Having taken redundancy from what was then North West Water, now United Utilities, she took a part-time quality assurance assistant and administration job at Brysdales in 1994. When owner John Green wanted out 20 years later, it was Elizabeth who put together a deal to lead a management buyout.
She said: “I grew with the business and ended up looking after a lot of stuff. John was looking to sell but that didn’t happen and eventually we discussed me buying him out.”
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