More than four million cartons per week will move through Coles’ new Kemps Creek automated distribution centre (ADC) in western Sydney, which was officially opened on 6 August. The ADC is the second one Coles has built using Witron technology as part of its $1 billion tech and innovation investment.
The Kemps Creek ADC was officially opened by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Coles Group chair, James Graham, and Coles Group CEO, Leah Weckert.
The build is 66,000 square metres and according to Coles, one of the “biggest and most productive” ADCs in the world.
Once operating at full capacity, Kemps Creek will service 229 stores in New South Wales and the ACT, processing more than four million cartons per week. That is equivalent to 32 million products sold in store, or 1.6 billion sales units in a year.
Weckert said, “This facility delivers a step-change for the safety of our team, with the elimination of around 16 million kilograms of manual handling every week.”
The completion of Kemps Creek comes after the Redbank ADC using Witron tech, which came online in April last year.
The two ADCs represent the company’s single biggest capital investment of more than $1 billion. The two sites have a similar output and can process twice the number of cases and hold twice the number of pallets compared to one of its regular DCs.
“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 New South Wales,” said Weckert.
Coles said there has been a 20 per cent improvement in availability compared to other stores.
Kemps Creek is half the footprint of the two DCs in the state because of its 36 metre High Bay pallet storage area, almost three times taller than the current DCs.
Witron Logistik + Informatik Technical CEO, Johannes Meissner, said he was “extremely proud” to see the ADC open coming off the back of the success Coles has seen from the Redbank site.
Witron’s pack pattern algorithm enables store order pallets to be packed to different heights in an optimal stacking sequence, based on product characteristics and store friendly logic.
Once these pallets are delivered to store, they will require less sorting due to improved product grouping, and greater levels of accuracy. The goal is to improve on-shelf availability and allow store teams to be more customer focused, Coles said.
Coles Group chair, James Graham, said he was “extremely pleased” to see such a major investment in Coles’ supply chain come to fruition.
“Over 4400 people contributed more than 1.8 million working hours to building the site, installing the automation and getting the system ready for operation – it is an achievement that everyone should be very proud of,” Graham said.
The ADC is fitted with a 3.5-megawatt solar solution on the roof, one of the largest rooftop solar solutions in the Coles network, with the Coles Group to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of FY25.
The Kemps Creek ADC is proudly named Naady’u Gulamadda, meaning the place of the Gula (Koala). The site is home to the Dharug People.
Coles recognises the importance of developing a relationship with the land and waters of Dharug Country where Coles has established operations. The name and associated artwork at the Kemps Creek ADC were developed through consultation with Leanne Watson from the Dharug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation.
An acknowledgement of country, culture and innovation plaque has been erected at Naady’u Gulamadda with a blessing from the traditional owners of the land.
