Warehouse companies, like all companies, are looking to reduce their operating costs. For warehousing companies, they are trying to cut their costs by making sure that their fleets of material handling equipment are working at their most efficient. However, by focusing on this aspect of the company’s operations, the business miss out a more obvious money saving option, which is the lighting.

It is thought that in any average distribution centre, repowering the battery-powered forklifts’ fuel cells make up around 25% of a company’s energy expenditure. However approximately 70% of the energy bill is spent on lighting, this is mostly because most of the buildings are lit with old fashioned fittings made from sodium luminaries.

Some companies have already worked out this energy saving opportunity and have been replacing their old fashioned and expensive lighting with more sustainable and fuel efficient LED systems throughout their stores. It has been suggested that the companies that choose to upgrade their lighting would see an almost instantaneous return on their investment.

It has been worked out that Paul Ponsonby, a warehousing and transport specialist has been able to cut their yearly lighting bills from £15,035 to £3,030. With a saving of £12,000 or 80% on what they used to pay, it is thought that the company will have achieved payback for the money they invested in the upgrade in less than three years.

Another third party logistics company Great Bear has been able to also significantly reduce their yearly costs on lighting from £146,20 to £23,844. This means that the company manages to save a total of £122, 363 which is 88% of their original lighting costs. The emissions that were created by the company through their lighting was also reduced from 799,265kg to 130,348kg. There are also a number of tax savings to be made by companies that upgrade their lighting systems which will save companies event more money.