Construction of a £5 million raw materials warehouse is underway at FUCHS Lubricants’ UK headquarters in North Staffordshire.
The warehouse is the latest step in a £10 million investment programme at Stoke-on-Trent-based FUCHS UK, which has also seen the introduction of a range of new manufacturing machinery and a robotic arm.
Building work on the new building began in August and the framework structure and roof have now been completed.
External cladding is now well underway on the new High Bay warehouse which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.
The aim of the new, fully-automated warehouse is to significantly increase the amount of raw materials the business can store on-site.
Its construction also means that an existing building can become a specialist packaging warehouse.
Mark Gray, head of operations at FUCHS UK, said: "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 future-proof the business and create cost-saving benefits."
The new warehouse will boast wire-guided driverless trucks and the capacity of approximately 4,000 pallet spaces.
There will also be high-tech warehouse control and warehouse management systems installed to help streamline the process.
In June, FUCHS UK – which employs around 200 staff in Stoke-on-Trent - revealed plans for further investment at its UK headquarters, where all of the company’s UK manufacturing and distribution takes place.
This is in addition to investment of more than £12 million at the New Century Street site in the last five years which includes the installation of more than 2,000 roof-mounted solar panels and the opening of a new, state-of-the-art head office in 2017.
