SMART WAREHOUSE STORAGE: THE NEW BUNNINGS DC

Spanning the length of more than two football ovals, this new, purpose built distribution centre for Bunnings Warehouse in Melbourne is a great example of smart warehouse storage.

This project started from the ground up. With a new docking station proposed in Melbourne’s South East, Bunnings took advantage of 43,000sqm of land to grow their supply chain. It also meant we had the opportunity to design the building around the internal storage plan in order to maximise pallet spaces and picking efficiency.

Works had already been completed in Queensland and New South Wales as part of their plans to upsize the Bunnings’ storage facilities on the East Coast to 25,000+ pallet locations – and Melbourne was the final part of the project.

This gave us the opportunity to access and re-use materials from the previous distribution centres to save on costs and reduce the environmental impact. Yet, with just seven weeks to complete the project, it was all hands on deck to have materials ready to meet the tight deadlines.

The pallet racking available for the works had been left marked and dusty from past use, and plans were put into action immediately for the many thousands of pallet locations to be dismantled and stripped. To expedite the process, the make-good of materials occurred in various locations across the three states.

To further expedite the process, frames were also assembled off-site; then transported straight the new location to be fixed to the floor and beams installed. However with the warehouse full of beams waiting to be cleaned, it didn’t leave much space for the team to work.

With all of these tasks actioned in unison – cleaning, re traffic flow in our warehouse and on site had to be monitored closely. This ensured that there was a constant supply of materials to the crew on site.

This project was a huge success thanks to the cooperation of all involved.

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