Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have launched a shared warehousing and logistics operation in Australia realizing synergies to be replicated and expanded across the world. This follows Mitsubishi joining the Renault-Nissan global alliance last year.
The new Alliance National Parts Distribution Centre will be one of Australia’s largest automotive logistics facilities. At over 37,000 square metres in area, it will use industry-leading technologies and processes for the fast and efficient movement of automotive parts and accessories. The facility will be the new master warehouse for all three brands. See following video
The new site was developed and purpose-built by Frasers Property and is managed by independent specialist CEVA Logistics, who took over Nissan’s parts network in 2015. “This is a milestone development and a future test case for their global operations,” said Adam Duncan, CEVA’s General Manager Sales – Contract Logistics. “We are proud to be part of this collaboration which has opened the door to many important synergies.”
The location of the new Alliance Facility, Truganina, in Melbourne’s western suburbs, takes advantage of nearby transport infrastructure. It was chosen for its proximity to Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport, shipping ports, the CBD and ring roads. Frasers Property Group commenced development of the WestPark Estate in 2004 and the Alliance Facility is the 15th and final stage of the Estate development.
Adam also points out that “this new warehouse provides a total solution; encompassing more than 20 types of racking systems, a conveyor, hazardous storage room, mezzanine flooring, 10 recessed docks, power supply for electric vehicles and the installation of CEVA’s Warehouse Management System. It has been designed to meet the requirements for a six-Star Green Star rating, the Green Building Council’s highest level of certification for sustainable building design and is among Australia’s first six-star energy rated parts distribution centres.”
One of the major components of the warehouse was for the design, supply and installation of the racking, conveyor and mezzanine floor solution. The mezzanine floor has 3 tiers and provides approximately 70,000 storage locations for automotive parts and accessories. A further 29,940 pallet locations were installed as part of the racking component.
According to Adam, “stow Australia was successful in winning the competitive tender due to its ability to provide a broad range of storage solutions in a timely and cost-competitive manner. We were particularly impressed with their flexibility to meet changing needs, their ability to compress installation times leading up to the Christmas break and the fact that Paul Johnson, stow’s Managing Director, stepped up to the plate to make sure things got done.”
“We knew that given the project’s long lead times and numerous stakeholders, flexibility was going to be required and we see this as a major difference in the way we operate between stow Australia and our major competitors”, commented Martin Bates, stow’s National Sales Manager.
The Truganina Alliance Facility is definitely an indication of things to come as one in nine passenger and commercial vehicles today are sold worldwide by the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Alliance and they have agreed to double their annual synergies by 2022 as its members look to grow profitability.