Coles has marked a major milestone in its technology-led supply chain innovation journey with the official opening of its second automated Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in New South Wales.
Coles’ new Wetherill Park CFC is the second of two to launch this year as part of a $400 million partnership with Ocado Group.
The first CFC opened in Truganina, Victoria, last month.
The Wetherill Park CFC will use cutting-edge technology utilising artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and automation to transform the way Coles Online orders are picked, packed and delivered.
The site has a footprint of more than 87,000 square metres – four times the size of the Sydney Cricket Ground – and can hold three million units of stock while having the ability to process more than 10,000 customer orders per day when running at full capacity.
It features a centralised hub, known as ‘The Hive’, where a fleet of more than 700 bots will fulfil a customer order containing 50 items in just five minutes.
Meanwhile, an artificial intelligence ‘air traffic’ control system will oversee the bots as they move around giant 3D grids transporting containers of grocery items to be packed and delivered by Coles team members.
Coles Group CEO, Leah Weckert, expressed her excitement about the launch of the company’s second CFC, claiming customers are already reaping the benefits in both Victoria and NSW.
“Today’s launch marks a significant transformation of our online grocery delivery service for New South Wales,” she said.
“Across Victoria and New South Wales, we have already delivered more than 120,000 orders, the equivalent of 5.5 million products, with our customers getting near perfect orders with zero substitutions.
“This is an incredible result for our customers, and a testament to the world-class Ocado technology.”
According to Wickert, the two new CFCs have arrived just in time for the busiest trading period of the year, Christmas.
The NSW CFC will employ more than 1,000 team members including drivers and fulfilment roles that will use high-tech packing equipment, and will be joined by a fleet of around 200 home delivery vans specially designed to ensure fresher products while reducing emissions.
Delivery times will also be improved, with Ocado’s technology giving Coles the ability to calculate the most efficient routes based on real-time conditions and tonnage of the home delivery vans.
Once fully operational, the modern facility will deliver an enhanced shopping experience for online customers – with better availability, fewer substitutions, increased range of products and improvements in the shelf-life of staples like mince and milk.
Coles Group Chairman, James Graham, said he was pleased to see the latest investment in Coles’ technology strategy come to life.
“The opening of our second CFC is the result of a five-year partnership with Ocado, whose global expertise is helping Coles innovate for our customers’ evolving needs,” he said.
“With the recent opening of our two automated distribution centres in Kemps Creek and in Redbank, Queensland, alongside our two Ocado CFC’s – the first in Victoria last month, and now here in Western Sydney today – we have made significant strides in using world-class technology to enhance our supply chain.”
The Wetherill Park CFC has also been designed to support best practice sustainability, with features of the build including a two-megawatt solar installation, sensor lighting, water recycling system and 100-per-cent recycling of cardboard.
In other news, Linfox has officially opened its new supersite in Laverton, Victoria.
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