Ideal benefits from Scottish hub

Bathroom distributor Ideal Bathrooms has seen a huge growth in sales following its investment in a new Scottish distribution hub.

The company moved to a new 33,000ft² warehouse in Glasgow, which provides over 1,500 pallet spaces, ensuring the firm has the best possible stock holding and delivery capability, since the new hub has double the capacity of the previous one.

Boasting the highest On Time In Full (OTIF) score within the entire Ideal Bathrooms distribution network, the warehouse has never had a lost time accident.

Ideal Bathrooms is part of the Saint-Gobain Group and has also seen the Glasgow distribution hub be recognised internally after the warehouse was shortlisted in the Saint-Gobain Reference Awards’ Ops / Manufacturing Site of the Year category.

Warehouse Manager Charlie McGlade said: “Thanks to the new warehouse not only have we acquired new customers, but what the depot has done is make things easier for current customers, particularly in Glasgow and Lanarkshire as they now have access to our stock on a same-day collection basis.

“We felt it was important to also improve the working environment for our colleagues and the facilities at our new warehouse are vastly superior to the old depot.”

In a bid to continue the development of the warehouse and be at the forefront of new technological advances, Ideal Bathrooms is currently trialling modern, lightweight Handheld Terminals (HHTs). Operating live on the company’s stock and sales order system, the HHTs can increase accuracy of stock, order picking, van loading and delivery.

The Glasgow warehouse, along with its Milton Keynes, Wakefield and Hayes sites, has increased the business’ warehousing space to more than 190,000ft².