AKW Medicare maintain full throughput while extending warehouse

AKW Medicare manufactures disabled showers, wet rooms, accessible bathrooms and kitchens. The business has operated since 1982 and supplies social landlords, local authorities, as well as national organisations such as Travis Perkins, Wolseley, and Tool Station.

With continuing growth across the company and an expanding product portfolio, facilities and inventory manager Mark Gwilliam identified an opportunity to expand the ‘Goods Out’ facility at the main Droitwich site. The additional space gained by a temporary structure could be used to accommodate more racking and create extra floor space for packing operations and cross docking, or even a covered off-loading facility for trailers and containers.

Mark had been involved with Aganto on a project some years before at a previous company, so already knew a temporary building would be a good fit for AKW’s 3-year plan. As Aganto buildings are built to British Standards for structural safety (BSEN 1991), they are often used for decades and can be a real alternative to permanent structures – at a much-reduced cost and build time.

Aganto’s national sales manager for the South East region, Janos Szabo conducted an initial site visit and provided recommendations. Aganto buildings are available to either purchase or rent, and technical specifications can be tailored to suit a wide variety of applications and individual requirements. Following the consultation process, AKW opted for a 36 month hire of a 15m x 40m x 6.2m steel-clad clear span building with insulated roof. The building included 2 links to the existing warehouse, gutter downpipes and 300 x LED light units. The planning process was handled by Aganto’s trusted partner Mosaic Town Planning, who has worked with Aganto since 2009.

Mark explains: “It was decided that the Aganto building was best option due to the speed and flexibility of assembly, and that we would not need to shut down any shipment operation while it was erected. In fact, it ran so smoothly nobody realised it had taken place - no interruption to the supply chain was noted.”

The installation was successfully completed within a week, with Aganto’s experienced in-house site manager Wayne Bradshaw overseeing the project. The Operations team at Mark commented on project handover: “I’d just like to say thank you to all at Aganto for their support and professionalism in helping AKW get the extension planned and built. Due to the support you all gave at Aganto - and also Mosaic in arranging all the plans, the site visits and permissions went smoother than I could have imagined. Without all your support it would have been very stressful, however it was one of the simplest projects I have undertaken in 30 years of doing this role.

“I would also like to say a special thank you to Wayne and the team of installers who have impressed us all at AKW. They have worked tirelessly with the Goods Out team to support them in maintaining full throughput with no disruption. We are especially grateful for the support they gave our drivers and MHE operators in making it simple and safe to not only build the extension, but also carry on with our own work.

“They are a very professional, clean and safety-orientated workforce who would be welcome back on this site at any time and must be a great asset to the Aganto team. Please express our thanks to Wayne and his team and all at Aganto. You have all been extremely helpful and have made the whole experience simple and stress free.”