At HAYLEY DEXIS, our growth strategy has always been anchored by a simple yet powerful strap line: Stock, Service, People. Our latest project, a substantial expansion at our Halesowen National Distribution Centre, represents this.
Having previously worked for a well-known logistics business for many years, it’s safe to say that I know very well that expansion in industry is often viewed through the narrow lens of square footage and the best logistical location. But as the last six years of working for HAYLEY DEXIS have taught me, that’s not for us. This project was never only about adding more racking or finding a centralised location; it was a strategic lever pulled to look after our people, create more space for stock, and deliver an even better service. We’re growing, and when people are the key to our company’s success, they have to stay at the centre of any decisions made.
Optimising Our Stock Profile
One of the three pillars of our strategy is stock, and to maintain our reputation for reliability, we must continually house the right products to supply on a just-in-time basis. For our customers, every hour, if not minute, of downtime can cost thousands of pounds – making time a key component, and why we hold such complex stock levels.
We have a number of warehouses in Halesowen, this additional warehouse significantly increases our footprint to achieve this, utilising a double-level mezzanine structure (ground, first, and second floors) to maximise vertical space. The new site will increase Halesowen warehouse space by 35%, deliver best-in-class material handling and vertical flow, and massively increase office space to enable further recruitment in key areas, all while being future-proofed for the new ERP deployment and being predominantly powered by solar energy.
Our team members have years and years of experience, they know the stock within the warehouses extensively. However, given our rapid growth, we needed to adopt best in class warehouse logic to significantly improve efficiently, as well as the deployment of technology and systems. We have been on a very successful journey with all our warehouse colleagues, introducing technology, systems and warehouse logic to significantly upskill the workforce. This now allows the team to proactively manage resources and prioritise orders to ensure the best possible service is given to customers and ultimately to fulfil what’s most important to Hayley – The Customer Promise.
Enhancing Our Service Delivery
Beyond stock, it’s the high service levels that differentiate HAYLEY DEXIS from the competition, and our logistics network is designed to solve problems others can’t. A prime example is our daily service leaving Halesowen to reach distant branches such as Inverness and Cornwall pre 9 am the following morning. For an engineer standing on-site waiting for a critical part, that 9 am delivery is the difference between completing a job today and losing 24 hours to downtime.
By optimising our warehouse flow, we are reducing the internal time spent on picking and packing, which strengthens our commitment to these industry-leading response times. We’ve never been a box-shifter; we are an integrated part of our customers’ maintenance and production cycles, and this expansion further builds on that.
Maintaining Our Commitment To Our People
Perhaps the most critical aspect of this expansion was where it happened. We made a strategic decision to develop at our existing site rather than moving to a theoretically ‘ideal’ logistics location off-site because of our people.
Our staff are integral to the success of the business, so moving would have caused significant disruption and potential loss of the deep expertise held by our team members. Instead, we chose to build a facility that takes better care of them. The expansion includes high-calibre new office spaces, dedicated canteens, and improved welfare facilities, and double the current number of off-street parking spaces.
Beyond physical comfort, the expansion project has also been a journey of empowerment for our team. We have introduced new technology and ERP readiness, transitioning our team from physical warehouse operatives to data-literate warehouse managers who present their own KPIs and identify their own capacity crunch points. It’s a blend of technology and human expertise that makes our service truly resilient – and we have no doubt our team will still memorise the new stock locations.
The Halesowen expansion is more than just a building; it is a commitment to maintaining the HAYLEY DEXIS way of working. By controlling our costs through efficiency and optimisation, we can continue to offer competitive and added value while providing the high-touch, expert support our customers rely on.
As we look toward the green light for the full move in June, we are proud to be building a future that keeps things local, values expertise, and always puts the customer first.
You can find your local HAYLEY DEXIS branch here.
Source: HAYLEY DEXIS
You must be logged in to post a comment.