Company Profile
Import Services
First port of call Delamode International Logistics, trading as Import Services, is delighted to announce the opening of a £23m extension to its distribution centre at Southampton container port.
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he conjoined distribution centre has been designed to BREEAM ‘Excellent’ sustainability standards, in close collaboration with port owner ABP and construction partner Midas Construction. Ground was first broken in January 2020. Over the past 18 months, through challenging times, this impressive new facility has been constructed within just 200 metres of the deep-sea container berths operated by DP World, at the epicentre of the thriving port of Southampton. The port-centric location and close proximity to the berths ensure that the company’s operations can facilitate the tremendous growth in demand for scale and efficiency at this prime location, and can continue serving the largest deep-sea container ships trading between the Far East and UK. Mike Thomas, client services director at Delamode International Logistics, commented: “Our new distribution hub is adjacent to the deepsea container berths, providing us with unrivalled access for stock intake, order processing and speed to market, direct to the point of demand.” The new hub also doubles pallet storage capacity to a total of 65,000 slots, extending over half a
million square feet. Combined with the operational increase in capacity, this facility also provides open plan office space over three levels. The space includes wellbeing facilities for visiting truck drivers and group services accommodation to meet the synergy Xpediator is generating, creating the first of several planned centres of excellence. These are designed to deliver innovative logistics services via talented teams, enabling forward thinking clients to meet the new world of logistics head on. The new port hub comprises: • A n additional 200,000 square feet of space plus two-tier mezzanine floors • 3 3,000 additional pallet spaces, boosting total capacity in this location to 65,000 pallets • 2 4 dock-levelling container/trailer doors to manage simultaneous operations of both rapid container discharges and trailer loading • V NA racking with the latest technology, improving put-away and pallet retrieval cycles • A £2.5m roof mounted solar panel installation, now the largest in the UK; the panels also more than double the existing solar power generation of the port
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The additional solar panels augment the existing array and reinforce Import Services’ commitment to environmental sustainability. “Reducing the amount of carbon generated in supply chains has been front of mind in our planning,” Mike adds. “We know port-centric activities reduce supply chain emissions by up to 20%. Cutting empty container running miles inland, and using loading back-haul trailers with retailers, improves this position further. The portcentric model facilitated by this new distribution centre will allow us to take important steps forward in tackling time, cost and carbon - the three key components of supply chains - as we head into a new world of logistics.” The compelling business model Import Services has pioneered particularly resonates with the toy and games industry. The fundamental understanding of retail logistics, combined with the addition of fast paced direct-to-consumer eCommerce, has resulted in an evolution of both technology and service offering. It’s not just overall capacity that needs to be addressed; Import Services is creating portals of dynamic information flow for its clients 24/7 via its cloud-based systems and is raising the game by investing in the latest
