As one of the largest automotive lubricant distributors in the Asia Pacific region, Southern Cross Lubes (SCL) is highly regarded for its service capability and ability to efficiently deliver products to its customers around Australia.
SCL had been sharing a warehouse in Altona and knew it was time to invest in its own facility, particularly given the business growth it had been experiencing. Working with builder, Stilcon Constructions, it commissioned a new 4,000m2 warehouse in Derrimut, Victoria.
The next step was to find a warehouse storage partner to maximise SCL’s ability to efficiently store and distribute product. After a robust tender process, stow Australia was selected for the quality of its solution and track record in delivering racking to promised timeframes during a warehouse construction.
stow Australia is a leading supplier of storage solutions, and is recognised for the quality and safety of its European rack, the speed of supply, and the experience and expertise of its project installation teams. The latter factor would become crucial as the installation date approached.
Selective racking the answer
After working closely with SCL and the builder to analyse its business and products, stow suggested selective pallet rack as the appropriate solution.
Selective rack gives maximised storage capacity, selectivity and flexibility, allowing easy, individual pallet access. stow’s selective rack is designed and manufactured in Europe, to the highest safety standards and using high-quality steel. It is also cost-effective, with its quality delivering lifetime value.
stow’s storage solution would hold 2,500 plus pallets of product with up to 1,000kgs of lubricant per pallet.
Covid-19 throws a spanner in the works
Installation into the SCL site was due to commence on 28 April, with a hard date of 16 May for the business moving into the new warehouse. The timing was critical as SCL’s lease on its current facility was up, and also because the rack installation had to coordinate with the builder and the in-rack sprinkler contractor.
However, due to the pandemic, the start date wasn’t to be when the rack was sidelined on the docks for a week while medical equipment cargo received priority processing.
A lesser company would have claimed the delay wasn’t their issue, but stow reacted immediately by throwing a larger team of its highly-experienced installers at the job, starting installation on 7 May and working through the weekend in order to meet the agreed delivery date.
Safety during Covid-19 was always front of mind during the installation, with stow’s highly-experienced installation team making additional accommodations on site including social distancing, the wearing of PPE, and sanitising frequent materials handling touch points including equipment.
At the completion of the installation, and also due to Covid-19, the third-party engineer conducted a virtual inspection of the racking. The inspection was successful and stow’s storage solution was delivered to SCL on time, on 13 May.
SCL’s Operations Manager, Phil Brennan, was impressed.
“Despite some real challenges, stow’s team of installers has delivered a great storage solution for Southern Cross Lubes, one that will allow us to maintain our renowned service levels and accommodate our storage needs going forward,” said Phil.
