Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
Retailer Briscoe Group is investing about $120 million on the development of a large North Island warehousing and distribution centre to be operational in two years.
The homewares and Rebel Sport retailer had already spent about $20m to implement a warehouse management system, including a down payment on the purchase of 30,000 square metres of land at Drury, on Auckland's southern border.
"We're in a situation right now where we've outlasted the existing asset that we have," Briscoe managing director Rod Duke said, adding the return on investment was expected to quick, given the improved inventory control and distribution system.
The new 20,000 square-metre facility was 2.5 times the footprint of Briscoe's existing 8000 square-metre facility and would be twice its height to accommodate the automated warehousing and distribution equipment, to be supplied by Austria-based Knapp.
He said the Drury site was selected not only because it was within the Auckland region, but because the land was half the price of locations closer to the centre of the city.
Duke said the facility would not be fully automated, and would require staff numbers to more than double to about 100 people.
Briscoe managing director Rod Duke. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
"We've got robots that are going to dash often and find merchandise, bring it to a packer. It'll get packed, sealed automatically, the paperwork dropped in and then put in a dispatch position. So there is a great deal of automation involved in it. But as I said earlier, it's not total and yes, there will be a degree of AI."
He said about 80 percent of Briscoe Group's inventory was currently held in its retail stores, where it had to be handled and dispatched by staff to customers.
Duke said the new system would ensure stores held the correct level of inventory, with high demand items replenished on a daily basis.
The new system was also expected to cut 20 percent of the time front-line in-store staff spent managing inventory.
"That gives us an opportunity now to give a higher level of service in stores. Therefore, we think a higher level of service means a higher level of satisfaction and customers return more often," Duke said.
"We can see a lot of cost savings and also customer benefits in terms of speed of delivery of product that we think customers will require."
Duke said the new warehouse and distribution centre had been three years in the planning and was expected to open in early 2026.