Tag: Woolworths

Woolworths is restructuring its NSW distribution centre operations, announcing two new facilities, closing one and repurposing another.

The company’s supply chain division Primary Connect will invest $400 million in building a 76,000sqm fresh-food DC in Western Sydney’s Wetherill Park, pictured above, which will serve more than 280 Woolworths stores across the state from 2023. It will have capacity to distribute more than 3700 fresh produce and chilled lines.

The new multistorey complex will replace the temperature-controlled facility at the Minchinbury Distribution Centre, which will close by 2024, with 330 staff being offered roles in other parts of the business.

A second new DC will be built at Kemps Creek, a 35,000sqm facility managing liquor stocks  in partnership with Endeavour Group to service more than 400 Dan Murphy’s and BWS outlets across the state from next year.

The existing Erskine Park Liquor DC will be converted into an ambient grocery facility once the Kemps Creek facility is operational.

Construction of both new DCs is contingent on NSW Department of Planning approval.

Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said the facilities announced today mark the final step in what has been a major transformation of Primary Connect’s NSW supply chain network, following the Moorebank supply chain hub announced last year of which construction commenced last month.

“The development of the Wetherill Park facility will help us deliver high-quality fruit, vegetables and chilled goods to our customers fresher, faster, and more efficiently than ever before.

“Wetherill Park is strategically located in close proximity to a large number of our stores, suppliers and transport providers, making it an ideal base for our fresh food distribution in NSW,” said Banducci.

“The co-location of fresh and chilled operations across a multi-storey site will also help remove more than 11,000 truck movements off Sydney roads each year – delivering environmental, traffic and road safety benefits to the community.”

Primary Connect says the existing fresh network in NSW is nearing capacity, with products currently supplied from three sites, including two third-party facilities. Without the new DCs announced today, the company has limited capacity to handle range expansion or volume growth over the medium to long term.

Woolworths Group’s supply chain arm, Primary Connect, has started construction on the supermarket giant’s “next generation” $780 million distribution centre in Moorebank, Western Sydney.

The DC promises 75,000 sqm of floor space and will be built with automation in mind, and will sit adjacent to a regional DC which will see construction start later.

“The challenges of this last year have put a spotlight on the critical role our distribution centres play in providing the essential food and everyday needs Australian communities rely on,” said Woolies’ group chief executive Brad Banducci.

“We have ambitions to offer a more tailored range of products in our stores, [but] this has traditionally been constrained by what we can hold in our distribution centres.

“Once both centres are up and running, we’ll be able to carry up to 8,000 additional products in our range than we can in our existing facilities.”

And according to the grocery group, Moorebank is just the beginning: Woolworths Group has a $2.3 billion investment program set to create thousands of jobs across NSW over the next five years, though didn’t specify what projects it would be working on beyond the two DCs at Moorebank.

Woolworths will revamp its store operating model for the first time since 2011, to put a greater focus on fresh food, convenience and customer service to suit changing customer needs.

The supermarket briefed team members on Wednesday about the implementation of the store model which will see the creation of two new fresh food departments at stores in the coming months.

Fresh Service will manage customer service at the deli, butchery and seafood counters while Fresh Convenience will cover dairy, eggs, pre-pack meat, branded bread and meal solutions.

“Over the last few years our customers’ needs have changed, but the way we have been operating our stores has stayed the same,” Claire Peters, managing director, Woolworths Supermarkets said.

“With customers’ ongoing expectations in fresh, and more shoppers looking for increased convenience, our stores need to deliver the best possible customer experience, every time.”

Peters said the new model will allow team members to be “more customer focused than ever before”.

Last week at the AFGC’s Food & Grocery conference, Woolworths highlighted the need for better convenience offerings for time-poor customers, as well as new and different choices that are good for health, wellbeing and the planet.

While the number of team members required in the new structure will not change, some current roles will be made redundant. Woolworths said that it aims to provide “as many redeployment opportunities as possible”.

Woolworths will invest more than $10 million in team training and development as part of the restructure and will add Assistant Team Manager roles to facilitate better management progression.

The operating model has already been rolled out across a group of stores in New South Wales, with changes to other stores to be phased in over the coming months.

The supermarket recently revealed plans to further reduce promotions and focus on everyday value in stores in an effort to gain better “price trust” among consumers.

Shopper feedback revealed that price is the most important element of customer’s trust and is a key area of focus for the retailer.