Birley's speedy solution for M&S

Birley Manufacturing has completed a project for Marks and Spencer which will significantly increase the efficiency of the retail giant's e-commerce system.

The £170,000 contract saw Birley create and install 146 bespoke packing stations for M&S's two e-commerce support sites at Woolston, Warrington, and Thorncliffe, Sheffield earlier this year. The stations are designed to work alongside M&S’s new automated conveyors to speed the packaging process.

Philip Hingley, Birley's business development manager, explained the process: "M&S's designer, sketched out the concept and our designers liaised with his team to develop the ideas into a workable solution. Our installation team then worked onsite for six weeks to set up the stations."

M&S predicts that the new packing stations will ultimately save them over 100 hours a week, making the packing process much faster and ensuring that customers receive their orders as soon as possible after placing the initial order.

As their online offering expands, they need to ensure that they are working at maximum efficiency. Working with Birley on the packing stations was ideal for them, as they were able to work closely on every stage of the project, from design to installation and were very pleased with the end result.

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Issued by SoPR Ltd. For further information contact Kirsty Scott on 01423 359100 or email: info@so-pr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

Racking up an impressive 135 years in the manufacturing industry, Birley’s professional skilled workforce of metal and bench joiner specialists - supported by designers, planners and project managers - provide bespoke solutions for the retail, industrial, rail, health and leisure sectors.

Birley Manufacturing is BSI accredited for Quality Management (ISO 9001), Environmental Management (ISO 14001) and Health & Safety Management (ISO 18001) and is Safecontractor approved.

Birley’s impressive client list includes Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, First Great Western, East Midlands Trains, HSBC and the NHS.