Unilever has extended its Cannock warehousing operation, which is managed by DHL Supply Chain, to hold its entire homecare range as well as ambient foods.
The site was formally opened by Amanda Sourry, chairman of Unilever UK & Ireland and Graham Inglis, DHL Supply Chain’s chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
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Graham Inglis of DHL and Amanda Sourry of Unilever open the expanded site.
Bringing two of Unilever’s product categories under one roof allows customers to order and receive cross-category deliveries, bringing greater efficiencies for the customer and reducing carbon emissions by taking trucks off the road.
Following the 21-month project, the automated high bay warehouse is now capable of housing more than 100,000 pallets.
The project involved extension to the building, as well as upgrades to the IT infrastructure, in total creating some 75 new jobs.
The automated high bay warehouse combines a range of conveyors, elevators, goods-in and dispatch areas, with low bay warehousing to manage separate Ambient Foods and Homecare pick halls. An automatic vehicle offloading facility accommodates transport from Unilever’s North West Homecare factories.
Unilever’s Homecare products include includes Persil, Domestos, Comfort and Surf, while the Ambient Foods lines include Marmite, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Colman’s Mustard, Pot Noodle & PG Tips.
Graham Inglis said: “Having operated the Cannock operation since 2005, we were always mindful of the site’s potential to accommodate more capacity and it’s exciting to see this come to fruition today.”
