This means the company, which specialises in hot dip galvanised parts, now collects and delivers 95% of material through its own trucks, with future spend set to look at new technologies to enhance driver safety and performance.
“We are able to provide complete flexibility and bespoke delivery packages for our customers involved in agricultural trailers, cable management systems, security fencing and street lighting,” commented Sophie Williams, finance director at Corbetts the Galvanizers.
“If our client needs material on site at 4am on a Sunday morning we can do that as we manage our own fleet, as well as employing our own drivers. There’s also a cost upside as we can strategically plan routes so that we can offer the best rates.”
She continued: “In 2018, we took the decision to replace vehicles every 2-3 years to ensure we are always getting the best fuel economy and that we have the least possible downtime off the road. Every week our trucks can make up to 200 deliveries!”
Corbetts the Galvanizers specialise in hot dip galvanizing, which involves the coating of steel with a layer of zinc by immersing the metal in a bath of molten zinc at temperatures of around 450°c.
When exposed to the atmosphere, the pure zinc reacts with the oxygen to form zinc oxide, a strong material that stops further corrosion in many circumstances, protecting the steel from the elements.
In addition to expansion of the fleet, the company has also replaced the roof on Plant A to provide more natural light for its workers and invested £30,000 in a new weighbridge.
The longer-term plan is to install an integrated system that will automatically record material coming in and out at despatch, making the firm more efficient and providing much better traceability to help with ISO 9001 accreditation.
Sophie concluded: “We are continually looking to recruit new people to our workforce and have turned our attention to securing talent from the Black Country.
“New staff receive a structured personal development plan, flexible shift patterns and employee incentives, not to mention the opportunity to quickly progress within the business.
“There’s a lot of conversations happening with recruitment agencies in Wolverhampton and we have even arranged transport to get people to us. There’s lots of core manufacturing skills in this area and we want to tap into these to help us with our ambitious expansion plans.”
