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Husqvarna is a UK manufacturer
of garden tools, for both trade and
consumers, and exports up to 99% of
its products directly from the assembly
line in Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham.
Key to its successful export strategy
is the fact that the business agrees to
Just-In-Time deliveries; the downside
is that this causes issues in terms of
holding raw material stock during
periods of unpredictable demand.
In order to keep its production
schedules responsive, the business
has invested in a temporary warehouse
to hold all of its raw materials during
busy periods. Being temporary, the
warehouse can be put up and taken
down on demand, very quickly, making
it a cost effective solution to keep
the business fulfilling its busy export
schedule during unusual periods of
demand.
It’s just one of the cost effective ways
that manufacturing businesses can
implement a successful export and
production strategy in challenging
times.
The building, which was installed in a
matter of weeks and is 85 by 12 metres
in length, and 6 metres high, has
provided Husqvarna UK with more than
1,000m
2
of additional storage space to
hold a considerably increased number
of components ready for manufacture
for customers overseas.
Joe Storey, Facilities Manager at
Husqvarna UK, explained how the
company’s production model enables
it to have a successful export strategy,
and why temporary solutions provided
by Spaciotempo are key in helping
the business keep its production
schedules responsive.
“As a manufacturer we do have a
standard range of products, but what
separates us from our competitors is
our ability to manufacture our products
reactively, in line with demands from
multiple different markets. Although we
do have seasonal demand periods, we
have found over the last few years that
demand is increasing, particularly from
the export market.
“Part of our service offering is just-in-
time deliveries to anywhere in the world
so being able to fall back on temporary
storage facilities during periods of
exceptionally high demand enables
us to effectively store components for
more intense production runs as and
when we need to.”
Husqvarna UK’s export success
story is impressive in the light of the
latest British Chambers of Commerce
Quarterly Economic Survey, which
revealed that UK manufacturing export
sales have fallen well below their pre-
recession peak in 2007, and following
the EEF’s decision to downgrade its
growth forecast for exports at the end
of 2015. Key to Husqvarna’s success in
overseas markets is its new automatic
lawnmower range, an innovation for
which 99% of assembled products are
shipped for export.
Scott Jameson, Managing Director of
Spaciotempo believes that temporary
storage and production facilities can
be a key enabler of a successful export
strategy, and is urging manufacturing
businesses to look beyond current
industry figures and adopt a mind-set
for growth.
He commented: “Although output
and export forecasts look poor for
UK manufacturing businesses, it’s
likely that many are already starting
to take advantage of low inflation
and declining levels of interest to
invest in more plant and machinery to
improve productivity for the long term.
When preparing for periods of higher
demand, manufacturers also need to
consider where this equipment will
be held, how they will quickly access
components for production and even
where they will store standardised
product ranges following manufacture,
prior to receiving orders.
“Temporary facilities are both more
cost effective and quicker to install
than permanent options and more
importantly, can be taken down just as
quickly to help manufacturers respond
quickly to demand increases.”
With the buzzwords of agility and flexibility high on the logistics agenda, we look at one area
where temporary structures can solve a thorny problem.
Seasonal demand
20
Logistics Business Magazine | February 2016
TEMPORARY STRUCTURES