Project Scope:
Cloke Clothing Ltd designs and manufactures quality ready-to-brand garments for teamwear, uniforms, and promotional merchandise. To accommodate their growth goals, Cloke Clothing engaged SpacePlan to fitout their new state-of-the-art facility in Auckland.
Previously known as Banbury Clothing, Cloke had been in their existing tenancy for three and a half years when they approached us to assist with their project. They held a 1500 sqm sub-tenancy of a larger facility shared with Cirtex Civil in McLaughlin’s Road, Wiri. Initially, it was intended that the original pallet racking fitout would be purchased by the master tenant however Cirtex were unable to reuse the system for their purposes. This project provided us with a few minor challenges including the need for effective stock staging and transfers between sites, relocating and recommissioning of their existing pallet racking system, and accommodating some last minute design changes for the Cloke team.
Unique Challenges + Our Solutions:
Minimising Downtime Through Project Staging
One of the key risks for a warehouse relocation is the cost of downtime. While investments in equipment and fitout add up, disappointing customers and missing revenue opportunities can quickly become the largest cost. With their existing pallet racking fully loaded, we scheduled the project to be completed in two stages. From an installation perspective, this allowed us to install the first stage in a non-operational warehouse for maximum efficiency and speed of installation. When completed, the stock transfers got underway before we dismantled and relocated their existing racking. The re-installation of the existing racking at the new facility required good health and safety management from our team of installers and coordination with the Cloke warehousing and dispatch team. This process minimised the downtime between facilities and expedited the installation process ensuring minimal risk of disruption to Cloke’s daily operations.
Repurposing Equipment to Maximise Return on Investment
Some client’s we work with raise concerns around the feasibility of reusing existing pallet racking systems. While new pallet racking fitouts allow for uniformity throughout the warehouse, partnering with key structural engineering firms allows us to assess and approve the use of pre-used pallet racking systems. Leveraging our breadth of industry experience and key partners, we were able to obtain structural details for the pallet racking and include these in our council submission. This ensured that their systems were certified and fully compliant.
Responding Quickly to Supply Chain Challenges
Despite careful planning with Cloke’s operational team, changes in stock type from their manufacturing facility resulted in the need for some adjustments to the pallet racking level layouts. By the time the manufacturers had made these changes, the installation process was already well underway with racks already loaded with stock. Again, to ensure minimal downtime, manage health and safety, and to minimise double-handling, our project managers coordinated the required adjustments with Cloke’s team. We adjusted the quantity of staff onsite and worked through the adjustments in a way that allowed for zero downtime for the Cloke team.
Summary
It was a pleasure for our team to work on this project with the various stakeholders. Developing the risk management plans and following through on our project processes allowed us to provide the best possible outcome for Cloke and ensured a seamless transition between their facilities. Our process maximised return on investment, minimised operational downtime, and significantly reduced the management input required by Cloke’s team.
