Diageo Australia's distribution centre in Huntingwood, Sydney, has been recognised with a Smart Award for Excellence in Manufacturing Supply Chains.
The new centre, which sits alongside its primary manufacturing site, has capacity for 26,000 pallets of Diageo’s liquor products.
A manufacturer and supplier to retailers such as Woolworths and Coles, its new One Touch supply chain has delivered efficiencies that have enabled Diageo to bring distribution back in-house rather than outsourcing to third party logistics providers.
The Huntingwood distribution centre consolidates Diageo’s two Sydney facilities into one and features a Dematic ColbyRACK custom-designed 31-metre high-bay storage system. The six-aisle, double-deep storage system provides capacity for 26,000 pallets, more than doubling its capacity from 10,000 pallets.
The new warehouse is serviced by six Dematic RapidStore cranes and can handle 110 pallet movements per hour. The system can immediately transfer stock from production straight into storage for order readiness.
Supply director Joe Russo said there's been a general trend among retailers and liquor distributors to reduce the level of stock they're holding and expect ‘just-in-time’ deliveries.
“It was critical for Diageo to upgrade its supply chain to ensure we could meet our customers’ needs,” he said.
“The $21.5 million investment in this project also reflects Diageo’s commitment to keeping our Australian manufacturing operations local.”
Dematic’s manager of industry logistics David Rubie said the company was proud to have been involved in the development and delivery of Diageo’s One Touch supply chain and new distribution centre.
View a video of the One Touch strategy here:
