SYDNEY | Coles has opened its second Automated Distribution Centre (ADC) using globally leading Witron technology as part of its more than $1 billion investment in technology-led innovation.
Coles Group Chairman James Graham and CEO Leah Weckert officially opened the Kemps Creek ADC.
Located 40 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, the ADC has been designed to improve customer availability and create safer, more efficient outcomes for team members and suppliers.
The site spans 187,000 square metres, equivalent to around 25 rugby league fields. With a building size of 66,000 square metres, it’s one of the world's biggest and most productive automated distribution centres.
Once fully operational, the Kemps Creek facility will service 229 New South Wales and ACT stores. The site can process more than four million cartons per week, the equivalent of 32 million products sold in stores. Over a year, this is around 1.6 billion sales units.
This is the second of two Witron facilities Coles has opened and is part of the company’s most significant capital investment in its 110-year history.
The first ADC opened in Redbank, Queensland, in May last year and has since processed more than 140 million cartons. Compared to other stores, customers in Queensland and Northern New South Wales have seen a 20 percent improvement in availability.
This opening came up as Coles stepped up its investment in NSW. The company has also invested in its MilkCo facility at Erskine Park and its online Customer Fulfillment Centre at Wetherill Park.
Kemps Creek and Redbank ADCs form the two parts of a $1 billion-plus investment in technology-led innovation for a more efficient, sustainable, and safer supply chain.
Coles has also invested around $400 million across two online Customer Fulfillment Centres, one in Wetherill Park, NSW and the other in Truganina, VIC.
Chief Executive Officer Leah Weckert praised the team's hard work opening Coles’ second ADC.
“Today marks a key milestone on our roadmap to enhance our supply chain and improve our operating efficiency with a world-class facility that will deliver improved availability for our NSW customers,” said Weckert.
“We have seen great improvements in availability for our customers in Queensland and Northern New South Wales following the opening of Redbank ADC in Queensland last year – and I’m excited to see this second ADC bring these same benefits to NSW.”
She added that this facility improved the team's safety by eliminating around 16 million kilograms of manual handling weekly.
Coles Group Chairman James Graham was also highly pleased to see this significant investment in Coles’ supply chain come to fruition.
“Over 4,400 people contributed more than 1.8 million working hours to building the site, installing the automation and getting the system ready for operation – an achievement everyone should be proud of,” said Graham
The Kemps Creek ADC has been fitted with a 3.5-megawatt solar solution on the roof, which is among the largest rooftop solar solutions in the Coles network. By the end of FY25, the Coles Group will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
“This ADC will deliver significant results for Coles and its New South Wales customers. We are thrilled to see the partnership with Coles come to fruition.”
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