Magowan’s £10.5 million tyre warehouse/software investment results in significant efficiencies

In 2017 Darryl Magowan Snr. hatched the plan for a next-generation tyre warehouse and paperless warehouse management system. By 2019 plans were well underway, with the Magowan’s Tyres team cooperating closely with Mike Allen and the software professionals at Cam. Two years later, both the building and its cutting-edge software system are up and running at the bespoke location just outside Belfast. Tyres & Accessories recently toured the site in order to find out more about the warehouse, its software and the significant efficiencies they offer not only Magowan’s but the wider tyre wholesale business.

Prior to the establishment of its new location, Magowan’s previously ran three warehouses supplemented by an arrangement of 30-foot containers (as well as two large tyre retailers). Tracking incoming products, stock, outbound tyres and exports across these sites was as complex as it was labour intensive. Now, the company is experiencing huge efficiency benefits after centralising its warehousing operation into a central location and throwing out paper monitoring forms and physical stock takes in favour of increasingly automated warehouse and Cameo WMS (warehouse management system) software.

As a result of Magowan’s investment, the company’s modern central tyre warehouse is now the largest of its kind on the island of Ireland (Photo: Chris Anthony, Tyre Industry Publications Ltd)

To anyone wondering what kind of benefits such a system can offer, consider the impact on container unloading – a key bottleneck in the smooth running of any tyre wholesale warehouse. Before the current project was completed, Magowan’s warehouse team could unload three to four containers in a day. Now the range is seven to eight (and even nine at a push) thanks to modern design, machinery and software helping manage it all. Multiply that figure across a year and the efficiency savings are significant, to say the least. And when you consider that the Magowan’s central warehouse is the largest of its kind on the island of Ireland, that point is only emphasised.

To find what Magowan’s did to achieve the above efficiencies and more, look out for the complete article in the next issues of Tyres & Accessories.

Complete coverage of our tour of the Magowan’s warehousing including details the systems that make it so efficient, check out October’s edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not a subscriber? No problem. Click here to become one.