Steel stillages can store and transport goods around factory floors. There is no 'standard design' for this industrial equipment, which is often customised to accommodate specific products safely. It is easy to overlook the advantages of steel stillages, because they appear – at first glance – to be little more than metallic trolleys. Nonetheless, these storage cages greatly improve manufacturing efficiency, and are financially vital in commercial terms.
UK Warehouse Space Is Becoming More Expensive
In all likelihood, you will know that the price of property and commercial space is increasing every few months in the UK. Statista reported that, on average in 2019, it cost £751 to construct one SQM of space in an industrial warehouse. Given that even small factories, production centres or warehouses can cover 3000 to 15,000 SQM of space, this means construction costs can reach over £11.25 million for a standard factory/warehouse site. When construction is expensive, rents have to be high as well. Therefore, if your company rents space in a warehouse, you need to meet this expense by streamlining your operations to increase productivity and revenue.
Supercharge Your Output With Steel Stillages
Thankfully, many steel stillages are built to be stacked up - and sometimes interlocked. Based on the kinds of products you produce, stillage cages can be stacked upright safely to multiple levels. For instance, if you have a steel stillage measuring about three SQM, this would have a £2235 spatial cost (on average), according to Statista. This means that an area of storage measuring 150 SQM would cost roughly £112,650 to construct.
Suffice to say, if it costs this much to construct the basic area, the rental or purchase price of this area will be significant too. Stackable stillage cages allow you to increase your floor space value many times over. With these stillages, you can store items in an area's vertical space, so they do not occupy costly space on the ground. This means that you will have a higher output and be able to complete bigger production runs, generating more revenue for your company.
Becoming More Efficient With The Right Layout
When correctly deployed, steel stillages make warehouse processes run smoothly, by speeding up production and reducing energy usage. Even if a production process is only delayed by a few minutes, it can massively affect your output – particularly if you average twenty process repetitions per day.
Moreover, BEIS reports that energy prices for SMEs have risen consistently every few months, since the early noughties. Stillage cages with half drop front designs are easily accessible, so it is quick to post rough goods into them. Also, they can have colour-coded powder coatings to make them more eye-catching, and help operatives determine which products to store in different units.
Find Out More
At Steps and Stillages, we stock a comprehensive range of steel stillages, and we can also build products customised to your needs. We can help you reduce the running costs of your business significantly. Call us today on 01536 295137 to learn more.
