Stiller will manage the warehouse operation, approximately 50% of the building, the other 50% will be Coveris’ manufacturing and office facilities.
30bn units of food packaging
Ian Donal, operations manager, Coveris Rigid, told FoodProductionDaily it will produce food packaging products at the site and Stiller will be distributing about 30bn units across the UK.
“As the company has expanded, we have outgrown our current facility in Stanley, County Durham,” he said.
“We are at the point now where future growth would be limited if we didn’t make the move to larger premises. It also allows us to plan the material flows to their optimal layout.”
Donal said the warehouse facility is operational now, but the manufacturing fit-out is on-going and includes a large upgrade to the power supply, and won’t be operational until April.
“We have a defragmented logistics set-up, with sites split between Scotland, Cramlington and Newton Aycliffe, and for the first time we’ll be able to have everything on one site, saving money on logistics,” he added.
According to Donal, the move will create about 10 jobs, and will include some staff transferring from the current suppliers. A total of 33 people will work in the warehouse.
Best value for service
“There has been a partnership with Stiller and Coveris for many years but as one of multiple suppliers,” he said.
“We ran a tender with three suppliers in September and the offer we went with was the one we felt would offer best value for service.
“At the moment we use outside warehousing in five different locations, there hasn’t been a large enough facility in the North East that would allow us to consolidate stock before now.
“Having all of our stock in one location will allow us to consolidate deliveries to our customers and improve our service levels.”
Paul Stiller, MD, Stiller, said he was delighted with the partnership.
“We’re now looking forward to operating alongside Coveris Rigid and helping them to continually improve its logistics over the next five years and beyond,” he said.