Coles has opened its second Automated Distribution Centre (ADC) using global leading WITRON technology as part of its more than $1-billion investment in technology-led innovation.
The Kemps Creek ADC was officially inaugurated on 6 August 2024 by Coles Group Chairperson, James Graham, and Coles Group CEO, Leah Weckert.
Located 40 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, the ADC has been designed to provide better availability for customers and create safer, more efficient outcomes for team members and suppliers.
The site spans 187,000 square metres, which is the equivalent of around 25 rugby league fields. With a building size of 66,000 square metres, it is one of the biggest and most productive automated distribution centres in the world.
At full capacity, the facility will service approximately 229 stores in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
Kemps Creek ADC
The site can process more than four million cartons per week – the equivalent of 32 million products sold in stores. This amounts to around 1.6 billion units over a year.
This is the second WITRON facility that Coles has opened and is part of the company’s single biggest capital investment in its 110-year history.
The first ADC opened in Redbank, Queensland in May of last year and has since processed more than 140 million cartons, with customers in Queensland and Northern New South Wales seeing a 20% improvement in availability compared to other stores.
Chief executive officer Leah Weckert said she was proud of all the hard work the team had put into the opening of Coles’ second ADC. She described it as a "key milestone" on the company's roadmap to enhance its supply chain and improve operating efficiency.
WITRON Logistik + Informatik Technical CEO, Johannes Meissner, said he was extremely proud to see this second ADC open and begin to service NSW stores - off the back of the success Coles has seen from the opening of its Redbank ADC in Queensland.
“This ADC will deliver significant results for both Coles and its New South Wales customers. We are thrilled to see the partnership with Coles come to fruition,” Meissner added.
The ADC is half the footprint of the current two DCs in NSW, due to utilisation of the 36-metre building height – which is almost three times taller than Coles’ current distribution centres.
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 the store, they will require less sorting due to improved product grouping, and greater levels of accuracy. This will improve on-shelf availability and allow store teams to be more customer-focused.
