Member Article

Engineering the future at Corby

Specialist 3pl logistics provider Europa Warehouse – part of the pioneering firm Europa Worldwide Group – continues to be at the forefront of the transport and logistics sector, with its latest investment in technical team talent at Corby.

The team of in-house specialists, all with a wealth of electrical and mechanical engineering expertise, has grown in recent months with the recruitment of six new staff employed to maintain the site’s £11m automation system.

Each will enhance the existing on-site capabilities at Europa Warehouse’s newest and biggest facility at Midlands Logistics Park in Corby, which employs 300 staff.

Europa is one of the most advanced logistics firms, with a team of over 1,300 and 15 sites operating across the UK today. It aims to lead the sector at a time of immense change when there is greater recognition of the vital role transport and logistics plays.

Aaron Haggart, Ryan Incles, Kyle Watt and Darren Curtis join the business as Engineers and will have responsibility for looking after the automation system, which is at the heart of the depot.

Ryan Appleton, Eric Zsugyo, and Adam Avery have also been employed as Technical Operators. Their role is to take charge of the various machines which form part of the process, re-stocking them with the required consumables which feed the main system.

Candidates had to demonstrate their technical knowledge and practical capabilities during the interview process, meaning the team now boasts a comprehensive skill set in the field of mechatronics.

All new recruits report to Aaron Crosby, who joined Europa Warehouse in 2021 as Senior Engineer. Since then, he has played a pivotal role in the installation and commissioning phases.

Following his recent promotion to Engineering Manager, Aaron is now responsible for leading the on-site engineering team.

Aaron said: “Europa Warehouse has been keen to embrace the very latest technology in order to set the pace in our market.

“Our goal is to build a best-in-class engineering department, which can not only plan the correct maintenance schedules to keep production flowing, but also identify areas for improvement.

“We want to ensure our operations are as slick as possible, and we have the ability, through our in-built monitoring tool, to detect and resolve even the smallest of process glitches immediately.

“Corby’s ambition is to deliver amazing levels of customer service, and now we now have a team of experts in place who specialise in engineering simpler, smarter systems that deliver the right results. It’s great to have them on board.”

Corby’s £60m, 750,000 square foot, 3pl site is Europa’s largest and most high-tech facility. Construction was completed at the height of the global pandemic and the site celebrated its first birthday last June.

Despite the challenges of Brexit and Covid, the UK logistics sector continues to perform robustly, contributing £127bn in Gross Value Added to the economy. Online retail also continues to boom, and there are no signs of this letting up.

Europa Warehouse is continuing to see these trends, which is why this most recent staff investment has been made.

At present, the bespoke computerised system uses a significant number of shuttles, meaning that goods to person technology pick rates have been optimised to achieve maximum output per hour.

These come from secure storage aisles over seven levels. The entire approach is completely tailored to meet the business requirements of the automation client.

Many other leading blue-chip brands have chosen to use the wider Europa Warehouse division because its outsourced fulfilment operation offers full stock traceability and is hugely cost-effective.

Jon Margetts, Europa’s Head of Facilities and Health & Safety, who oversees the Engineering Team, added: “This is such an exciting time for Europa Warehouse, as we seek to make our automation system and processes bigger and better in terms of enhanced optimisation and overall efficiency.

“The introduction of the computerised storage and retrieval system has enabled Europa to vastly improve output across the Warehouse, because it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week in response to the growing trend for next day deliveries.

“We’re delighted to welcome on board our new engineers who will enable the business to remain at the cutting edge of system technologies.

“Setting the pace in the marketplace through innovation and the continued investment in our people is incredibly important at this time of significant growth across the 3pl sector.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rosie Vacciana-Browne .