Arcom: Increase turnover with greater storage space

When the going gets tough, diversify. This strategy helped storage systems specialist Arcom weather the storms of the past two years. The Polish company is once again enjoying strong demand, both within the tyre industry and beyond. We caught up with sales manager Marcin Smulski during The Tire Cologne to find out more.

“We’re experiencing a big boom of orders in 2022, but the last couple of years were difficult,” he tells us. The trading restrictions placed upon many businesses during the pandemic proved a major issue for Arcom, a company heavily dependent upon the tyre industry. Smulski estimates that tyre racks accounted for 80 to 90 per cent of Arcom’s business prior to Covid-19’s unwelcome arrival.

“The pandemic hit many tyre retailers and wholesalers hard, and they weren’t in a position to order new equipment. Therefore, we invested in other industries, and are now making racks for businesses in the automotive, construction, and oil and gas segments,” shares the sales manager, adding: “Diversification saved us during the pandemic.”

Arcom sells its products globally, exporting 80 per cent of what it manufactures and delivering to all continents – and the world is now working hard to put the pandemic behind it. But as of 2022, the company faces a new challenge, one it shares with everyone in its line of business. Marcin Smulski explains that Arcom previously sourced much of the raw materials used in its products from suppliers located eastwards of Poland. “The price we’re now paying for steel has doubled since the war in Ukraine began,” he tells us. “And steel accounts for 70 per cent of the rack price.”

Ready-made and bespoke solutions

Taking the raw materials situation in its stride and despite newly broadened horizons, Arcom is still firmly focused upon the tyre industry. The company offers both ready-made and bespoke solutions ranging from tyre boxes, racks and trolleys through to complex mezzanine and platform systems that significantly boost storage capacity. Smulski comments that negotiations for the more elaborate facilities that larger tyre firms order can take years to finetune. The company’s bespoke systems typically utilise the base footprint and diameter standard of the E3 pallets originally developed by Goodyear and now used by most companies within the tyre industry.

Smulski still encounters potential customers who are hesitant to make capital investments, but his message to them is clear: “They don’t realise they make money with our products. But more square metres of storage space means greater turnover potential.” He adds that installing an Arcom multi-level mezzanine system can increase a warehouse’s capacity by 30 per cent.

Marcin Smulski, sales manager at Arcom (Photo: T&A/Stephen Goodchild)