West Midlands Ambulance Service responding to national health emergency with Fleet Hub Workshop

Creating an efficient workspace is important for any auto-related business, but even more so when the turnaround time for emergency vehicle maintenance can be as little as 48 hours. This high-speed service is even more critical now, with the global pandemic creating immense pressures on the NHS.

WMAS selected Dura to bring our experience to bear when designing the furniture layout for their high-pressure environment, which is currently being used as part of the battle to tackle the COVID outbreak.

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) is the second largest ambulance service in the UK and the first university ambulance trust. The Fleet Preparation Hub is central to the operation, covering 5000 sq. miles and is where all emergency vehicles for the West Midlands are maintained, serviced and held. To accommodate the growing demand of this vast operation, WMAS recently conducted a full refurbishment of their maintenance workshops. The priority was to deliver the best operational advantages for their technicians, combined with the flexibility to grow as demand increases.

Fundamental to the success of the project, was Dura's close working relationship with WMAS. During a consultation period, Dura gained a thorough understanding of the day-to-day working practices to establish the correct solution. Workshop tasks fall into two categories: (a) general vehicle maintenance, and (b) decommissioning of older vehicles with the transfer of technical kit to their replacements.

To accommodate these dual demands, Dura selected products from the modular 600 series. For vehicle maintenance, a continuous 6.6m run of cabinets were selected - integrating all the facilities required including tool storage, waste management, a wash-up area, power and comms services. In addition, customised mobile units were created to provide flexibility, and to take tools to the task. In the decommissioning area, an extensive run of larger heavy-duty shelving units was selected, to provide a practical solution for handling a complicated mix of vehicle parts and technical components.

Dura created 3D renders to provide realistic visuals of the proposed areas, enabling WMAS to explore the proposals - and demonstrating how the designs made efficient use of the space, while meeting the demands of their team.

Workshop Manager, Martin Corley, comments "We had been looking around for a company to work with to design our workshop. After seeing Dura's furniture in an automotive workshop nearby, there was no doubt in our choice. The professional look, quality and versatility of the product sold it to us.

The design of the workshop has allowed WMAS to address their key concerns of storage, security and safety. WMAS have a system which is efficient, safe and user-friendly and the modularity of the design has created space in the room for a more efficient work flow".

WMAS now have the professional environment that their maintenance team needed. Efficiency has already increased and, even during peak times, the new space allows the team to accomplish their stringent 48-hour deadlines more easily. WMAS now have the professional environment their maintenance team desire. Efficiency has already increased and even during peak times, the new space allows the team to beat their 48-hour deadline.

If you would like to hear more about this or any of the other projects in Dura's news section then please call 01280 706050 or email info@dura.co.uk.

Be notified of our latest news by following us on Facebook and Twitter