Storeroom key

Just a few weeks ago, the Port of Antwerp announced that Antwerp-based Wijngaard Natie is to convert one of its warehouses on the Vries quay into a dedicated service centre for Russian steel group Mechel.

The plan is to unload, handle, sort and despatch up to 25,000 tonnes of steel a year; the 5,500 m² warehouse is being converted into a facility with five sawing machines for cutting the steel products to the dimensions required by the final customer.

It’s a good example of the way ports and port companies are taking up more and more links in the supply chain – “adding value” being the favourite slogan – and why the provision of specific, innovative and often dedicated storage is increasingly important. Simply fast-building a “standard” warehouse and hoping it will fit someone’s needs is really no longer an option.

“Traditional port warehouses are relatively low to eaves, whereas some of the more modern ones are high-bay, 13-15 m to eaves,” says Stephen Carr, Peel Ports’ head of business development for the Mersey. “In the past, often people put up warehouses and the attitude was ‘take what you are given’. But around the port estate there is an increasing trend for some processing activity to take place next to or at the point of storage – whether repacking from big to small box or a more industrial process it doesn’t matter, but it is much harder to integrate something like that into a pre-build.”

Peel has outline consent for a major expansion of its Liverpool Intermodal Freeport Terminal (LIFT) which will add about 500,000 sq ft of warehousing being planned in three units. Major users of the existing LIFT facility include Halloween and carnival products manufacturer Rubie’s Masquerade, food ingredients company KTC Edibles, newsprint and forest products specialist Stanton Grove, and cocoa/bulks importer B+P.

“One of the things that was obvious when we looked around the port was that allowing the customer to design a facility that is fit for them is much better than pre-building an off-the-shelf plan,” says Mr Carr. “By waiting for specific customer engagement, we can develop a site to fit customer needs – as opposed to building a standard box people can work around. This might not be suitable for light, high-volume goods – or, on the flip side, relatively low height sheds are better for bulks.”

Potential customers looking at a pre-build will consider whether the floor space will work for them – if the configuration isn’t right, then the shed isn’t right, he says. “It can be as simple as are the doors facing the wrong way. They might want doors at both ends or only one; they might want a transhipment or conveyor operation; they might want standard dock levellers or they might want high-bay racking.”

Having offered one customer a blank canvas, though, what happens to that potentially very specific warehouse if the customer decides to move out? Mr Carr accepts that is always a possibility: “But the more specific the building, the more specific the tenure will be. And there is a significant market for second-hand buildings, too.”

Temporary fast-build storage solutions such as those supplied by Rubb have traditionally played a major part in helping ports meet sudden or peak demand for storage. But it would be wrong to see these as temporary tents.

Memphis-based Mahaffey Fabric Structures has over 1m square feet of structures in operation, along with an array of accessory items normally found in conventional buildings. “Some of these accessories include flooring, lighting, HVAC, insulation for climate control, door options, tables, chairs, and more,” says marketing manager Beth Wilson.

Recently Mahaffey provided a fabric structure to serve as a temporary cruise ship facility at Mobile, Alabama in what was essentially a two-month test. “It proved that Mobile was accepted by the public and an economically viable port of call,” says Ms Wilson.

“Temporary fabric structures provide an optimal solution for maritime cargo storage and test market facilities; they are portable and semi-permanent in nature, giving you the freedom to relocate should a need arise in another location or while a current warehouse or permanent building is undergoing redevelopment or restorative maintenance.”

More and more seaports are opening in the US, says Ms Wilson, and here there are two issues. “Before a new port is established, it must first be tested to ensure it will enhance the economic status of the location. Test market ports are a great way to measure an increase in local business – they are especially important for those areas where commercial development is booming.

“Along the same lines, within the ever-expanding maritime industry, cargo space has become increasingly hard to come by – storage space is at a minimum. Often, a warehouse is only needed for a short amount of time. In the humid and sometimes extreme environments near the ocean, it’s imperative that precious cargo – be it food items, grains or other goods – be handled with the utmost care.”

Rubb, based in northeast England, was called in when Sunderland City Council needed a new and versatile cargo facility at Hendon Docks. In conjunction with SGW Construction, Rubb put up a 24 m span x 65 m long BVE cargo handling and storage facility with 7.65 m sidewalls.

Just up the road at the Port of Tyne, Rubb supplied a warehouse facility for Twinings, to provide additional storage capacity for tea imports through the port. The BVE type building is 52.2 m long with a 24 m span and 6 m high sidewalls; vehicle access to the building is via a 7.5 m x 5 m high loading bay extension with high roller shutter doors.

“The flexibility of a Rubb structure means it can be used to house a wide variety of goods, including extremely sensitive materials under dehumidified conditions,” says Rubb Buildings sales manager Ian Hindmoor. “Our buildings offer marine terminals a solution that allows for maximum flexibility with respect to multiple handling methods and configurations; relocating and re-using them to suit the changing needs of a busy port is easy and cost-effective and additional buildings can be added as required.”

The PVC cladding in Rubb buildings will not corrode in a marine environment and allows the structure to accept differential settlement without the need for expensive pile foundations, he adds – these same features prevent leaky roofs, an issue he says is common at many port facilities.

“Rubb structures provide large column-free spaces, illuminated by natural light through a translucent roof; this provides a safer and more cost-effective working environment than other traditional warehouse buildings.”

Of course, there is another way; don’t use any special storage at all. Heinz imports raw beans from Canada through the Port of Liverpool, for delivery to its production plant up the road at Kitt Green.

“Rather than the traditional supply chain where they take the containers to site and tip the beans into silos, we offer them a dedicated container storage area in the park; Heinz comes and picks up the type of beans they need and the box goes straight to the manufacturing plant, eliminating the need for extra storage there or here,” says Stephen Carr.

In another example of using the container as a temporary storage solution, wine being barged from Liverpool up the Manchester Ship Canal to a plant at Irlam remains in the container until it is required. “As the demand cycle rises and contracts, so they have fully flexible storage via using the container,” says Mr Carr.