Arnott's brings automated distribution centre online

The Arnott’s Group has declared its Western Sydney automated distribution centre open.

Plans to build the centre, in the suburb of Huntingwood, were first announced in 2019.

At the time, Arnott’s Group said it had begun work on the $65 million facility, and predicted it would give the distribution centre storage capacity for 28,000 pallets and streamlined logistics.

The company declared the facility open in this LinkedIn post.

The Huntingwood facility is adjacent to its largest biscuit site.

“The distribution centre serves as a thoroughfare for over 60 percent of the group’s national inventory, delivering significant operational savings, with its location putting it in prime proximity to distribution hubs for key retail partners," the fast-moving consumer goods maker said.

Daifuku provided the robotics and automation behind what Arnott’s Group called a “one-touch logistics solution”, while Linfox is providing logistics management for the centre.

“We continue to expand our Australian operations and need the storage and logistics infrastructure in place to accommodate this growth,” managing director of procurement and logistics Tom Vicars said in a statement.

“We intend for Western Sydney to be the beating heart of our national operations”.

The $65 million distribution centre brings Arnott’s Group’s infrastructure spending to over $300 million since 2013.