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the various markets after a couple of slightly difficult years. One thing we never lose sight of at Fort Vale is the importance of R&D and re-investment in the company and, due to significant growth in various markets, we are constructing an additional building onsite to extend our manufacturing capacity, ensuring efficiencies are maintained, whilst accommodating the additional processes and materials required to meet the increased demand. HCB Apparently you’re also moving into e-commerce, with the addition of a semiautomated warehouse - can you tell us a bit more about that?
companies in the industry quite hard but we found that not only were we well placed to negotiate the problems that Covid-19 posed, we have actually managed to turn it to our advantage. For example, we are a British company based in the north-west of England but we have a global reputation and a truly global reach, with offices all over the world. Because we control and manufacture all our own parts, we were able to act more quickly, and more effectively, than many of our competitors. As a result, 2020 delivered the third highest turnover Fort Vale has ever recorded, which was a massive
GB Yes, we’ve invested in an additional warehouse on site in the UK, operated semi-automatically by pre-programmed electric vehicles. This frees up space in the main factory, allowing for investment in new computer numerical control (CNC) machinery and increasing capacity. The nature of some of the new business generated in the rail industry has also meant that the size and space required for the larger equipment has started to pose some challenges for internal logistics, so we are building this warehouse to not only to serve the e-commerce market but to free up space in the main factory to enable us to move new processes into it, allowing us to utilise the factory space more efficiently, and again allow for increased manufacturing capacity. This is coinciding with the launch of our e-commerce web shop. Some may say we are a little late to the party with this type of service, but we would rather have a solution that works for us and our customers and I now believe we have found this. Initially, we will be launching the UK web shop for servicing our UK customer base for the spares and aftersales market. The new UK warehouse will help us achieve the service
achievement considering the extremely difficult circumstances the global market was facing. Not only that but, looking at 2021, our year-to-date sales are already exceeding last years’ total, which is a huge testament to the hard work our employees have been putting in, and also the positive recovery of
required for this type of offering. This will shortly be followed by our European web shop which will be serviced from Fort Vale BV in the Netherlands and will supply all countries and regions across Europe. This will offer our customers a better service for obtaining Fort Vale spare parts on relatively short lead times.
HOLD THE FORT EQUIPMENT • DESPITE THE PANDEMIC AND ITS ASSOCIATED RESTRICTIONS, FORT VALE HAS CONTINUED WITH ITS PROCESS OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION INTO NEW MARKETS SO FAR, 2021 has much been like 2020 - a series of false starts and hopes. Lockdowns have come and gone, as have variants of Covid. Hopes have risen and been dashed with monotonous regularity. But look closely and there is bright sunlight on the horizon - at least, that’s the opinion of Graham Blanchard, global head of marketing at Fort Vale, one of the world’s leading suppliers of tank valves and other equipment. HCB sat down (remotely) with Graham early in July to reflect on the year so far, upcoming Fort Vale projects, and their plans for the future. HCB So what has been happening at Fort Vale since we last spoke? How has the company managed? GB It’s been a frantic time, but in a good way! As you know, the pandemic hit some
HCB MONTHLY | JULY/AUGUST 2021
