The UK arm of FUCHS lubricants has started futureproofing its Staffordshire headquarters by beginning construction of a £5 million warehouse for raw materials. FUCHS UK—which makes lubricating oils and greases like cutting fluid, slideway oil, and compressor oil, to name but a few—is investing £10 million in its UK operations. Its manufacturing plant is also seeing innovative new machinery being introduced.

The new High Bay warehouse should be ready around June next year. It will have some 4,000 pallet spaces, with a multi-line pallet loading robot arm helping to store and retrieve raw materials. This means the company will be able to store much greater volumes of raw materials on site, while the existing storage building will be converted into a packaging warehouse.

The warehouse will be fully automated with two wire-guided Very Narrow Aisle trucks. Without a driver or even human intervention, these will benefit from rapid lift and travel speeds. The warehouse will even be able to allocate places automatically, although manual selection will also be possible.

FUCHS UK’s Head of Operations, Mark Gray, said about the development:

“We have an ambition to place FUCHS Lubricants at the forefront of R&D, manufacturing and distribution of lubricants in the UK. This raw materials warehouse represents a significant investment for the business, and a further step towards that goal. The warehouse includes sophisticated automation, which will futureproof the business and create cost-saving benefits.”

Despite construction only beginning in August, the frame structure and roof are already finished, with the external cladding now being added.