Foodstuffs North Island has opened a new custom-built cross-dock transport depot and warehouse in Whangarei.
According to Foodstuffs, the new facility has been designed to maximise the efficiency of deliveries to Foodstuffs supermarkets in the Northland region.
The new Whangarei cross-dock is responsible for the last part of the journey – for goods coming directly from suppliers, or from Foodstuffs North Island’s distribution centre in Auckland.
The site will be shared with Gilmours Northland.
“A cross-dock facility is where we unload product from larger, long-distance trucks into smaller ones that are better suited to Northland’s roads and delivering to our more remote stores,” said Melissa Chapman, depot manager.
“The bigger trucks are great for bringing large amounts of stock up to Northland from Foodstuffs’ main distribution centres or suppliers’ warehouses, but from an efficiency, and environmental perspective, it doesn’t make sense for them to do the whole trip out to each store. So, our Northland team is responsible for that last part of the distribution process as they’re closer to the community stores.”
Keeping foods, particularly chilled and frozen goods, within a specific temperature range throughout the journey from distribution centres to stores has been a key priority for the new development, with larger chillers and freezers with temperature monitors included in the suite of features at the new site.
The new site is an investment of $10 million from Foodstuffs North Island, and has dedicated docks for loading and unloading, which means more trucks can be worked on simultaneously, which in turn means less delays and more time for deliveries.
The facility also has the latest in supply chain technology with automatic gates, EV chargers, full electric forklift fleet and laser lights for walkways.
Foodstuffs North Island is planning similar major refurbishments or new buildings for some of their remaining cross-dock facilities in the next year, with a full rebuild for their Hastings depot due later in 2022.
