SHEDA • Striving for excellence
October 17th 2006 The Storage and Handling Equipment Distributors’ Association (SHEDA) has been championing quality for the last 28 years. Formed to provide independent and unbiased advice on storage and materials handling, EGHS&D looks at the associations growth over the last three decades and where it goes from here.
What started out in the late 1970s as a small group of men concerned about norms and delivery challenges in their industry is now a tour de force in the storage and handling world.
SHEDA is respected for setting benchmarks on quality and standards and now sits at the negotiating table with government bodies and fellow associations and is respected by manufacturers and customers.
Working at height
Over the last few years, SHEDA has been lobbying on members’ behalf over the working at height regulation and on whether or not the storage and distribution industry is part of the construction industry or not.
Former SHEDA president Ken Miller and fellow council members have successfully argued over the last couple of years that members are, in fact, an industry in its own right and as such have their own rigorous regulatory bodies and training systems.
These safety and standard checks include initiatives such as SEIRS, the Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme, which ensures that workers understand and employ certain practices when working on customers’ sites across the country.
The measures aim to ensure companies buying in services and products from SHEDA members can be assured of unrivalled quality and that their suppliers are not taking risks that have legal repercussions for them.
Ken Miller said: “Companies that want to regulate themselves, without waiting for the government to do it for them, are responsible and so worth doing business with.
“SHEDA has been behind this regulation process all the way and we have been aiming for widespread recognition of the fact that SHEDA members are quality companies.”
That recognition has been achieved.
Constant lobbying, work to improve safety standards and stringent membership requirements have made SHEDA a recognised mark of quality. Membership to the association is becoming a pre-requisite on more and more private and public tenders.
With more than 50 members, the association already represents a high proportion of all the storage and handling companies in the United Kingdom and Ireland along with many of the supplier organisations. But it is constantly looking to expand its membership.
In fact, its next mission is to launch a concerted recruitment drive to reach out to the quality companies that are delivering high standards, without the safety net of a trade association representing their interests and supporting their business.
Wealth of experience
SHEDA president Craig Powell said: “SHEDA is able to bring a wealth of experience, know-how and advice to its members.
“It maintains close relations with SEMA the Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association, for whom a great deal of respect is held for members past and present and their outstanding achievements.”
SHEDA also maintains close relations with The Health & Safety Executive (HSE), monitoring standards such as working at height, the Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme (SEIRS), and FEM and CDM regulations.
As a result, SHEDA members have access to a whole host of information such as Codes of Practice, British Standards, European Standards, legal issues, health and safety issues, training opportunities and first-hand information and experiences from members.
Over the next few years, SHEDA will also be driving towards higher and higher standards, through continued industry pressure and working with its partner organisations and governing bodies.
Craig Powell was appointed the new SHEDA president in May and as the son of one of the founding SHEDA members, Richard Powell, he has established a clear agenda for his term in office.
He said: “I believe that SHEDA has never been stronger. We hold a dedicated and committed council, which has just launched a new mission statement to strive for excellence in storage and handling. This mission is not something that SHEDA members take lightly.”
The message is clear – only the best will do and the SHEDA logo will aim to represent that.
Craig believes that one of the key ways to drive up standards is by SHEDA members supporting each other.
Networking opportunities
He said: “For people in this industry, SHEDA offers a networking opportunity like no other.
“This networking takes place at the quarterly council meetings, where all members of SHEDA are able to attend as observers, various exhibitions, the Annual General Meeting and via all the other methods of communication that are now available to us.”
SHEDA members also benefit from an annual general meeting and trade show, access to industry standard documentation, free editions of the associations newsletters, training opportunities and, of course, the use of the membership certificate and SHEDA logo.
For suppliers, membership gives direct access and marketing opportunities to the majority of companies operating in the industry.
Craig added: “The SHEDA website is designed to be the central location for information and we are looking forward to developing this further in the coming months.”
The association is also looking at using combined buying power to add to member services – finding good deals on professional indemnity insurance, phones and other business services. More articles from Storage & Handling Equipment Distrbutor Assoc (SHEDA): | 
