COLES opens its first automated distribution centre
Coles Group has opened the largest automated distribution centre (ADC) of its kind in the southern hemisphere at Goodman’s Redbank Motorway Estate in Queensland.
Equivalent to the size of two Suncorp stadiums, when operating at full capacity, the 66,000 sqm site can process up to four million cases per week and can hold over 18,000 ambient products.
The facility will provide a safer, more efficient and sustainable supply chain, servicing 219 supermarkets in QLD and Northern NSW.
Thanks to the state-of-the-art facility in Redbank, up to four million cases of products per week can be picked and delivered to 219 COLES supermarkets in Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Take a look at what might just be the most cutting-edge dynamic distribution center in the southern hemisphere.
The new automation distribution centre will service 219 Coles supermarkets in Queensland and northern NSW.
It is the first of two planned ADCs: the second, at Kemps Creek in NSW, is expected to be brought online in late 2024.
Once running at full capacity, Coles anticipates the site will process up to 4 million cases per week, the equivalent of 32 million units sold in stores.
The first of the two centres is said to be one of the biggest automated distribution centres in the world with a building size of 66,000 square metres.
It can hold a full range of over 18,000 shelf-stable products resulting in Queensland and north NSW supermarkets facing less pressure to maintain stock and deliver better outcomes for customers.
Advanced pack pattern algorithm also lets Coles assemble pallets in the most effective way, resulting in less sorting at stores and leading to better product availability.
“Modernising our operations is how we improve efficiency and availability in our stores and deliver higher service levels for our customers, team members and suppliers," CEO Steven Cain said.
“Our new ADCs can process twice the number of cases and hold twice the number of pallets compared to one of our current DCs.
“Over 90 percent of the cases processed in these automated distribution centres will be processed fully by automation or ergonomically, which will be a step-change for the safety of our team as it eliminates almost 18 million kilograms of manual handling in the supply chain each week once the ADC is running close to full capacity."
