March 2021 – Unipart Logistics and NHS Supply Chain were crowned winners of this year’s prestigious ‘New Facility’ Award, announced today by SHD Logistics.
The award recognises the successful opening of a new state-of-the-art facility, NHS Supply Chain Suffolk Park near Bury St Edmunds. This is part of an ambitious transformation and growth strategy designed to deliver benefits and savings back to the NHS, whilst ensuring supply chain resilience during an unprecedented year.
Spanning 147,000 square feet of space, twice that of the existing Bury St Edmunds site, the Suffolk Park regional distribution centre represents a significant investment in the NHS Supply Chain as it gears up for further growth.
The award reflects the agility and innovation that NHS Supply Chain and Unipart deployed to design, build and open the site in May 2020, against the backdrop of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Key to the build was Unipart’s use of digital tools, including Digital Twin deployment, and Augmented and Virtual Reality, which allowed modelling for the new site to take place remotely, without the need for unnecessary travel and in a COVID-Secure manner.
Suffolk Park uses the latest innovative technology to design a fully optimised solution for maximum product integrity as a state-of-the-art medical devices hub. Suffolk Park continues to have a positive impact on the local community both through employment and environmental sustainability initiatives.
Chris Holmes, Supply Chain Director, NHS Supply Chain said: “I would like to thank all the teams that have been involved with this project for all their hard work and dedication to getting this new site opened on time as planned. This is a significant milestone in our transformation journey which aims to continuously improve our service offering for our customers.”
Claire Walters, Chief Commercial Officer, Unipart Logistics said: “It is an honour to be recognised at the Logistics Awards after COVID-19 brought us all such unparalleled challenges this year. I would like to thank the whole team for their tireless dedication, and NHS Supply Chain for their partnership and support. Opening the new Bury site early and using the full range of our digital products demonstrated true flexibility, and ensured that the team really delivered for the NHS at a critical time.”