£2 million patent awarded to British engineering firm Whitham Mills
Manchester-based engineering company, Whitham Mills, have been granted a £2 million patent after designing an award-winning solution for a multi-billion pound grocer.
Whitham Mills has a long history of innovation; however, this material handling patent represents a milestone for the business which has grown significantly in the last 5 years and recently moved into a 30,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility.
Previously devised for use on XPO Logistics sites, the innovative solution has now gathered sales of nearly £2 million and been successfully installed in another top 5 grocer and is currently been adapted to tip return packages for an international retailer with over 1,000 stores worldwide.
The UK grocer first approached Whitham Mills back in 2015 with a question: “How can we empty backhauled food waste from roll cages in the most cost-effective and efficient way?” The Whitham Mills’ team designed, prototyped and then rolled out their tipping solution across 10 distribution sites nationwide and are now their preferred supplier of equipment and maintenance nationwide for their waste management machinery.
Saving over £1.2 Million in the first year post installation, the tipping solution has halved the number of operators required to empty each roll cage, as well as saving over 5 minutes of ‘empty’ time per cage.
Ben Smart, the managing director of Whitham Mills commented: “The whole patent process has taken us just shy of 5 years to complete, during which time our innovative solution has won multiple accolades within the waste management community and now we are seeing other industries interested in how our solution could be applied to their market to help them streamline their operation processes.”
“Our designers and engineers have been questioning the way big business deals with waste and have been devising many solutions to suit the individual needs of our customers. The Whitham Mills team are innovators who solve problems which no other equipment manufacture seems to be doing, all while delivering a second to none service. We are excited about leading the waste management market of the future by investing in manufacturing techniques and innovative engineering.”
To read about our how our patented tipping solution has reduced logistic expenditure and increased efficiency in Tesco’s recycling process click here.
