Industrial facilities require electrical infrastructure that is robust, reliable, and scalable. Whether you're considering expanding your manufacturing capacity, relocating to a larger premises, or upgrading ageing equipment, proper electrical planning is essential to support your operations and enable future growth.
MeKo Electrical has completed industrial electrical projects across the South West, from small manufacturing units to large distribution centres. We understand that successful industrial installations require more than just the technical knowhow – they demand a deep understanding of your operational requirements, production schedules, and business objectives.
Capacity planning is often overlooked until it becomes a limiting factor. We regularly encounter growing businesses that need to upgrade their electrical supply because their existing infrastructure can't support additional machinery or expanded operations. Our team conducts thorough assessments of not just your current electrical demand, but also your projected demand, ensuring your infrastructure can accommodate growth without costly retrofits. This forward-thinking approach saves money and prevents the operational disruption that comes from forced emergency upgrades.
For distribution centres and warehouses, lighting alone represents a major electrical consideration. Modern LED systems can reduce lighting costs significantly compared to traditional installations, while improving light quality and reducing maintenance requirements. We design lighting solutions that enhance safety, support efficient operations, and minimise energy consumption.
Machinery installation requires careful coordination with equipment suppliers and production schedules. Our team works closely with your operations managers to plan installations during shutdown periods, minimising the impact on production. We handle everything from power distribution to control systems, ensuring new equipment is properly integrated with your existing infrastructure.
Capacity Planning – Getting Ahead of Demand
The most expensive electrical upgrade is the one you didn't plan for. When a growing business reaches the limit of its electrical supply – whether that's a full distribution board, an undersized incoming supply, or switchgear that can't accommodate additional circuits – the consequences go beyond the cost of the work itself. Production lines stop. Lead times for DNO supply upgrades are often measured in weeks or months, not days. Temporary solutions are expensive and introduce their own risks.
MeKo approaches capacity planning as a business conversation before it becomes a technical one. What equipment are you planning to add over the next three to five years? Are there processes you're currently running at reduced capacity because of power constraints? Is there a realistic prospect of additional buildings or mezzanine space? The answers to these questions shape an electrical infrastructure specification that serves your business now and doesn't become a bottleneck later.
In practical terms, this usually means specifying main distribution boards and sub-distribution with spare capacity built in, ensuring incoming supply applications to your DNO reflect anticipated future demand rather than just current load, and designing cable routes and containment that allow for straightforward additions without major disruption. Done properly at the outset, this costs relatively little extra. Retrofitted after the fact, it's a significantly more disruptive and expensive exercise.
Machinery Installation and Commissioning
Industrial machinery installation is rarely a simple matter of connecting power to a new piece of equipment. Modern manufacturing plant frequently requires dedicated circuit protection, specific cable sizing to manage start-up current draw, control wiring to integrate with wider automation systems, and earthing and bonding arrangements that comply with both BS 7671 and any manufacturer commissioning requirements.
MeKo coordinates the full installation process – liaising with equipment suppliers on their electrical specifications, planning the work to align with your production calendar, and carrying out the installation and initial commissioning in a way that minimises the window during which your facility is operating at reduced capacity. Where a factory acceptance test or manufacturer commissioning sign-off is required, we work to those timescales and ensure our installation meets the criteria needed to validate any equipment warranty.
Distribution Centre Electrical Requirements
Distribution centres and large warehouses have a distinct electrical profile. High bays, wide column grids, and the constant movement of goods create specific demands around lighting design, power distribution to charging points for materials handling equipment, office and welfare facilities, fire alarm and emergency lighting systems, and – increasingly – EV charging infrastructure for HGV and last-mile delivery fleets.
Lighting is often the most immediately impactful upgrade available to an existing distribution centre. High-bay LED fittings with intelligent controls – presence detection, daylight linking, and zoned switching – can reduce lighting energy consumption substantially relative to older fluorescent or high-intensity discharge installations. The 60–70% saving cited in many comparisons is broadly accurate for sites moving from older T8 or metal halide systems, though actual figures depend on hours of operation and how well the existing system was controlled. We'd be cautious about quoting a specific figure without an assessment of the existing installation.
Materials handling equipment – counterbalance forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers – places significant demand on electrical infrastructure through charging requirements. A well-designed charging bay layout, with correct circuit protection and sufficient supply capacity for simultaneous charging cycles, avoids the informal and often non-compliant arrangements that grow organically in busy warehouses over time.
There will be a second part of this series covering emergency power systems, planned maintenance contracts, and how MeKo manages electrical work on live industrial sites to keep production disruption to a minimum.
To discuss your industrial electrical requirements, call us on 01453 764531 or visit our contact page.
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