Coles officially opening its first Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in Victoria last week, bringing together world-class technology and automation to enhance the shopping experience for Coles Online customers in greater Melbourne.
Located just over 20 kilometres west of Melbourne’s CBD, the Truganina CFC is the first of two CFCs to launch this year as part of a $400 million partnership with global leader in online grocery transformation, Ocado.
Coles CEO Leah Weckert said the opening signals a major step change in Coles’ online grocery deliveries that will offer customers greater choice, better availability, improved freshness and more flexible delivery options.
“We sought the best global technology in the world to reimagine the Coles Online experience here in Australia,” she said. “This transition from a local, store-based fulfillment model to a central, world-class facility will enable us to better serve the greater Melbourne region, home to more than five million people.”
The Victorian CFC’s delivery catchment will span the growing Melbourne region from Ballan in the west across to Bunyip in the east, and from Beveridge in the north down to the Mornington Peninsula.
Truganina CFC
The Truganina site has a footprint of more than 87,00sqm and can hold three million units of stock while having the ability to process more than 10,000 customer orders per day when running at full capacity.
The state-of-the-art site features a centralised hub, known as ‘The Hive’, where a fleet of more than 700 bots will fulfill a customer order containing 50 items in just five minutes, while an artificial intelligence ‘air traffic’ control system will oversee the bots as they move around giant 3D grids, transporting containers of grocery items to be packed and delivered by Coles team members.
The Truganina CFC has been designed to support best practice sustainability, with features of the build including a two-megawatt solar installation, sensor lighting, water recycling system, and 100% recycling of cardboard.
The site is proudly named Brungilo Curran, meaning Stringybark Gum Tree. The name and associated artwork at the Truganina CFC were developed through consultation with local Bunurong community and local artist Kobi Sainty.
Meeting consumer needs
Tapping into the appetite for customers to create restaurant-quality meals at home, the CFC will house a range of specialty brands and local foods from smaller suppliers like Lello Pasta, the former Flinders Lane restaurateurs turned Italian product providores.
The extended product ranges also span the health and dietary, vitamin and baby categories – with a wider selection of brands and products designed to support the growing needs of customers.
There is an on-site bakery which will bake to order twice a day, and a fresh produce area where produce is cut and packaged to order, leading to less wastage.
Customers will also have the choice of extended delivery windows from 5am to 10pm, with later cut-offs for both next day deliveries in the morning and evening.
Delivery times will also be improved, with Ocado’s technology giving Coles the ability to calculate the most efficient routes based on real-time conditions and tonnage of the home delivery vans.
Investing in technology
The opening of this CFC is the result of a five-year partnership with Ocado, whose technology utilises artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and automation to transform the way Coles Online orders are picked, packed and delivered.
The official opening of Truganina will be followed next month by a second CFC site in Wetherill Park, New South Wales.
CEO of Ocado Group Tim Steiner said he was thrilled to be a part of the step-change for Coles customers with the opening of the first CFC.
“It’s a great moment for Ocado as we mark the start of our operations here in Australia with Coles,” he said.
“As these CFCs ramp up both here in Victoria and in NSW, Coles Online customers in metropolitan Melbourne and Sydney will get to experience a game-changing difference in the quality of service available online.”