Distribution center in Sydney: Coles relies on Witron

The ADC in Kemps Creek was officially opened on August 6 by Coles Group Chairman James Graham and Coles Group CEO Leah Weckert. Located 40 kilometers west of Sydney's city center, the facility has been designed to provide multiple benefits for Coles' customers, employees and suppliers. With a building area of 66,000 square meters, it is one of the largest and most productive automated distribution centers in the world.

As soon as the facility in Kemps Creek has reached its full capacity, it will supply 229 stores. It is designed to pick more than four million pick units per week, which corresponds to a total of 32 million products sold in the stores. The ADC is the second distribution center that logistics lifetime partner Witron has planned and implemented for Coles and is part of the company's largest single investment in its 110-year history.

The first ADC opened in Redbank, Queensland, in May 2023 and has since picked more than 140 million pick units, with customers in Queensland and northern NSW seeing a 20 percent improvement in goods availability compared to other stores. The ADCs at Kemps Creek and Redbank are part of an investment of more than one billion dollars in technology-enabled innovation for a more efficient, sustainable and secure supply chain.

Automation saves 16 million kilograms of manual work every week

CEO Leah Weckert said she was proud of the hard work the project team had put in to realize the ADC in Kemps Creek. "Today marks an important milestone on the roadmap to optimize our supply chain with a world-class facility that will sustainably improve the availability of goods for our customers. Following the opening of the Redbank ADC last year, we have already significantly increased the availability of goods for our customers in Queensland and northern New South Wales. I am delighted that this second ADC will bring the same benefits to our customers in the regions it serves. Furthermore, the system also represents a major step forward for the workplace ergonomics of our employees, as the automation will eliminate around 16 million kilograms of manual activities - such as lifting and carrying the picked goods - every week."

James Graham, Chairman of the Coles Group, said he was delighted that this investment in Coles' supply chain was bearing fruit. "Over 4,400 people have put in more than 1.8 million man hours to construct the buildings, install the automation and get the system up and running. That's an achievement that everyone can be very proud of."

Johannes Meissner, Witron's Technical Director, said he was equally proud of the partnership with Coles and the success Coles has already achieved with the opening of the distribution center in Redbank. "The ADC in Kemps Creek will also deliver outstanding results for Coles, its customers, employees and suppliers."

Coles also thanked his construction partners and consultants from Goodman Group, Richard Crookes Constructions and TMX for the development, construction and management of the complex project through to completion.