Flowstore design and build material handling solutions, such as trolleys, workstations and racking. The company has a wide and varied customer base from automotive and aerospace through to E-Commerce and electrical manufacturing. For companies assembling products or compiling orders for dispatch, Flowstore has many years’ experiences in designing solutions to improve processes.
Interview with Simon Bolton, Sales and Marketing Director at Flowstore.
Easy Engineering: What’s the news about new products?
Simon Bolton: In recent years we have found the need to offer complete solutions including products such as Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGVs), Robots, Pick to Light Systems etc and we have worked closely with other industry specialists to deliver the complete materials handling solution.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
S.B: All solutions are custom manufactured to meet the needs of customers, so the range is almost endless. All solutions are made from a tubular steel or aluminium modular construction so, should the application change, the solution can be adapted to meet the new requirement.
Key product areas are:
Racking for container and product storage, trolleys, workstations and ergonomic matting.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
S.B: E commerce and retail have seen the largest demand for Flowstore solutions. More companies require bespoke solutions to meet their exact requirements, coupled with the reassurance that, should their process change, our solutions can be adapted to meet those changes.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
S.B: Many customers want a more ‘’Project Managed’’ approach, looking for one supplier to pull together a range of products to present one solution. That is where we have seen far more projects of this type than perhaps three years ago. This is particularly the case in industries such as Aerospace and E commerce
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
S.B: Innovation is at the heart of the Flowstore business and all our products fall under this umbrella. One of these is our auto-load solutions that move product, without any manual handling, and which are often used in conjunction with robots and AGV’s. This would be one of the most popular recent innovations.
E.E: What estimations do you have for the rest of 2022?
S.B: With the impact of the economic climate, we are seeing more customers looking for ways to save time and increase productivity, and we see this as the key area where we can help for the rest of this year and beyond.