Comline is “open all hours”

Moving a business to operate 24 hours a day takes grit, determination, and large amounts of coffee.

For the team at Comline though, the move has given them a marked increase in efficiency and has enabled the business to manage a surge in both UK and export sales.

After an investment last year to upgrade the company’s warehouse to it’s current capacity of 72,000 sq feet, Comline has seen a “monumental” increase in sales.

The addition of  a third warehouse shift, effectively transforming the business into a 24 hour operation, means orders can be taken and processed more efficiently than ever before.

For Malcolm Rosher, Comline’s sales and marketing director, the move is a dream come true. “An export order can be in excess of 100 pallets,“ he continued. “Picking these orders at night enables us to make sure that the pick locations are fully stocked in readiness for the UK orders which come in the next day, so we are helping our UK customers with export led growth.

Our success in recent years while impressive is dwarfed by our plans right now.  If someone had suggested just a few years ago that we would be catering for 50 per cent growth, I would have laughed, but that is the reality.

It doesn’t just happen of course – the logistics is just one element. The whole mix has to be right. There has to be the correct balance of: brand; product; range and commercial terms”