Coles has opened its second Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in Sydney, after the opening of its Melbourne location in September. The facilities aim to bring together technology and automation to enhance the shopping experience for Coles Online customers.
Located 40 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD, the Wetherill Park CFC was opened on 11 October by Federal member and Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, Coles Group chairman, James Graham and Coles Group CEO, Leah Weckert.
The facility has a footprint of more than 87,000 square metres, can hold three million units of stock, and will be able to process more than 10,000 customer orders per day when running at full capacity.
It’s the second of two CFCs to launch this year as part of a $400 million partnership with UK-based Ocado Group, with the first CFC opening in Truganina last month. The Victorian facility experienced several issues in construction, with a $120 million blow-out and 12-month delay, due to issues found during quality control processes.
Once fully operational, the modern facility aims to deliver an enhanced shopping experience for online customers – with better availability, fewer substitutions, increased range of products from local suppliers, and improvements in the shelf-life of staples like mince and milk.
“Today's launch marks a significant transformation of our online grocery delivery service for New South Wales,” said Weckert.
“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.”
The CFC will use Ocado technology to better automate the way Coles Online orders are picked, packed and delivered. It will employ over 1000 team members, and have a fleet of around 200 home delivery vans designed to ensure fresher products, while reducing emissions.
More than 700 bots will fulfill customer orders, with an AI intelligence ‘air traffic’ control system overseeing the grid as they transport containers of grocery items to be packed and delivered by Coles team members.
The Wetherill Park CFC has also been designed to support best practice sustainability, with features including a two-megawatt solar installation, sensor lighting, water recycling system, and 100 per cent recycling of cardboard.
The facility includes an on-site bakery which will bake to order twice a day, and a fresh produce area where produce is cut and packaged to order, leading to less wastage.
Ocado Group CEO, Tim Steiner, said he was thrilled to be a part of the step-change for Coles customers with the opening of the Wetherill Park CFC.
“It’s a great moment for Ocado as we celebrate the opening of this second CFC here in Australia with Coles. This is one of the fastest growing markets in the world for grocery ecommerce, and Coles is already a market leader in the online channel,” Steiner said.
“As these CFCs ramp up both here in New South Wales and in Victoria, Coles Online customers in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne will get to experience a game-changing difference in the quality of service available online.”
