Our Operations Team, shortlisted for a prestigious Motor Transport 2020 Award, have worked tirelessly to dramatically improve quality, safety, their working environment, and performance.
Fortec’s Operations Team are based in the company’s central ‘Hub’, strategically located near Watford Gap, Northamptonshire.
The team have seen substantial change and improvements in the last couple of years, with a £3million expansion of the Hub last year, along with an investment in safety and security systems, including 260 high resolution CCTV cameras, LED lighting, marked pedestrian zones, safety flooring, truck park surfacing and multi-lingual signs around the site.
This followed a challenging start to 2018, when heavy snow, dubbed by the media the ‘Beast from the East’ caused widespread chaos and transport delays. At the same time, the Hub’s expansion was underway, meaning that many areas on site were out of action - reducing space and causing operational delays (having a knock-on effect for member deliveries).
In November 2018, the company’s Operations Team launched its 12-month Project Transform, with the following aim: To substantially improve operations and deliver a better service for customers.
A working group was set up, meeting monthly, and four steps to transformation were set:
1. Employee engagement
Involving our people has proved key. Highlights included a restructure of the Hub team, nightly briefings, a new and motivating bonus scheme, an employee events and activities calendar and a new Employee Assistance Programme.
2. The environment
The team’s commitment to improving their environment was staggering. It included a site wide clean-up (which the team now do on a regular basis), new signage and additional car parking spaces were introduced, canteen facilities were improved and there are now improved barriers and newly marked walkways.
3. Training
As well as introducing a new training programme the Fortec Academy was launched, providing forklift training complete with AITT-accreditation (Association of Industrial Truck Trainers)
4. Processes
Safety, quality, productivity, and communications – improved and new processes were introduced.
The Operations Team is a ‘Team of the Year’ finalist at this year’s high-profile Motor Transport Awards 2020 – with the winner set to be announced at an awards ceremony in November. These awards, judged by a team of more than 50 senior figures working in the transport industry, are now in their 34th year and are widely recognised as a benchmark for excellence in the sector.