One of the world's most advanced online distribution centres opens in western Sydney

“It’s set to be one of the most efficient distribution centres globally,” says Chris Pearce, logistics president of the company that’s just built it, Toll Global.

“It means customers will receive their orders in hours rather than days.

The facility has fewer employees and is more energy efficient than most other distribution centres. Photo: Toll

“In terms of size, it’s mid-size at 32,000 square metres – less than a third of the biggest centres – but there’s still potential to expand too. This centre is focused on apparel and footwear, but the technology we’re using is suitable for a range of different industries like pharma and consumer electronics, anything where the volume of orders can justify the investment.”

While Australians spent about $23.65 billion in online shopping over the past year, according to the NAB Online Sales Index, and with the fast-fashion industry expected to grow at 21.5 per cent over the next five years, the race is on to build the right facilities.

Fast fashion in Australia will be worth about $1.8 billion by 2023, predicts IBISWorld’s latest market research report, and faster delivery is key in the battle between online retailers and those operating out of traditional bricks-and-mortar stores.

The new $160 million centre at Prestons, containing 15,600 square metres of automation equipment worth about $50 million, is a key weapon in the arsenal of online sellers who want to raise the percentage of online consumer spend, currently standing at just 7.6 per cent of what is spent in-store.

Since 2014 Alex Linton, general manager logistics of Speciality Fashion Group, has collaborated with Toll on the centre, pooling ideas on how it should be.

“Demand is growing and we needed a longer-term solution to support that demand and provide a better service for customers,” Mr Linton said. “At times, we have so much volume, we don’t have enough people to cope.

The centre can handle up to 375,000 fashion and footwear orders a day. Photo: Toll

“Speed and accuracy are very important to the online customer and we’re seeing this system really deliver on both. We’re seeing fewer mistakes and satisfying customers a lot more effectively. We’re absolutely delighted with how it’s working.”

Toll has over 700 centres worldwide, spread across Australia, South East Asia, the US and Europe, but this one is by far the most technologically advanced. It is likely to increase productivity five-fold, and able to process and pack over 70 million items a year.

Behind the scenes of many hi-tech online companies there’s a massive shed out in the suburbs, where workers trundle up and down massive aisles of around 40,000 different goods, tossing them into a shopping trolley ready to pack and post to customers.

The automated system, as well as more speed and fewer – in theory – mistakes, there’s also massive space saving since the goods no longer need to be stored to be so accessible to human workers.

“It’s much more environmentally sound as we’re using less capacity and we can use less energy in things like lighting,” says Mr Pearce. “As a result, it has a much smaller carbon footprint.

At 32,000 square metres it is one-third the size of the biggest distribution centres. Photo: Toll

“In addition there are safety aspects. We believe we have improved the risk profile for workers by reducing manual handling by around 70 per cent. We want to make sure every single one of our workers comes home at the end of the day’s work.”

The centre was opened on Friday by NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey, who said she was excited that Australia was at the forefront of such technological innovation.

“Staying competitive in a rapidly-changing global market requires vision, determination and an appetite for change, and that’s what Toll’s new facility will provide,” she said.