Logistics service provider XPO Logistics and its partner Saint-Gobain, which manufactures materials for the construction and industrial sectors, have opened a new warehouse in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
The new Northern Distribution Centre is ‘a dedicated operation for Saint-Gobain UK in the north of England and [was] designed to operate as a multi-functional site with the customer at its heart’.
It is intended to support Saint-Gobain’s multiple manufacturing operations in the North and the Midlands. The manufacturer believes it will provide new distribution capacity for its brands and enable it to ‘accelerate its plans for multi-brand site deliveries for customers’.
Anika Sharma, customer service and supply chain director at Saint-Gobain Interior Solutions UK, commented: “This new site is strategically vital for us, and we are delighted to have created it in collaboration with one of our key partners, XPO Logistics. The centre strengthens our existing logistics offering and allows us to expand and explore exciting new opportunities to benefit our customers.”
Taken on a long-term lease, the warehouse can store 2.5 million m² of plasterboard and has 1,500 racking locations for palletised goods. In addition to all-electric forklift trucks, the site benefits from technology such as ‘ATVs, robot sweepers, a proprietary warehouse management system and stock-taking drones’.
XPO notes that by using drones for stock-taking, it can improve health and safety by reducing the need for staff to work at height.
Dan Myers, managing director for UK and Ireland at XPO Logistics, said: “It’s great to see what our teams collectively have achieved with this new distribution centre. Working together, this facility is a significant step for Saint-Gobain’s supply chain, helping to support our partner’s sustainability agenda whilst enhancing its customer service. I want to thank the team for the seamless delivery of this project against ambitious timelines.”
According to XPO, the eventual aim is for the site to become a fulfilment centre stocking products from across the Saint-Gobain UK brand family that can be dispatched directly to the consumer.
