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Spanning the size of 24 rugby league fields across four floors, the first Amazon Robotics fulfilment centre (FC) in the Southern Hemisphere is set to open early next year in Western Sydney with builders now in the final stage of internal fit-outs and external works.
As the largest warehouse ever built in Australia, the 200,000-square-metre fulfilment centre is located at Goodman (ASX: GMG) and Brickworks’ (ASX: BKW) Oakdale West Industrial Estate in Kemps Creek.
This is more than 10 times the size of Ruslan Kogan-backed eStore Logistics' latest robot-powered warehouse in Bankstown, with approximately 37,000 yellow storage pods that have been built to house up to 20 million of the smaller items sold on Amazon.com.au including jewelry, books, electronics, pantry items and toys.
More than 4,000 people have worked on the construction and fit-out of the site, including installation of around 14 kilometres of advanced conveyancing equipment and 2.5 kilometres of Amazon Robotics safety fencing.
The US multinational expects to generate 1,500 jobs for local people at the site, who will be assisted by robots moving pods filled with items to them, reducing the time and effort that would otherwise be required for the employee to stow items for sale or pick them for new customer orders.
Amazon also highlights the use of pods saves space, allowing for 50 per cent more items to be stowed per square metre which in turn allows for increased product selection.
"The introduction of robotics enables us to exponentially increase our capacity for storing inventory, providing additional opportunities for the thousands of small and medium sized Australian businesses we support, while increasing product selection and improving delivery speed for our customers around the country," says Amazon Australia director of operations Craig Fuller.
Amazon Australia director of operations Craig Fuller.
Hiring has already started for the site, including the promotion and transfer of around 130 existing employees from Amazon’s first Sydney fulfilment centre in Moorebank.
"Along with specialised positions in areas like robotics, we have a range of roles that don’t require formal qualifications and provide an opportunity to work alongside advanced technology and build a career at Amazon," Fuller adds.
"We’re excited to welcome people from all backgrounds and experiences to our team in the new year."
Goodman has collaborated with TNSW to provide greater public transport connectivity to the estate including a regular bus service – now operational - from St Mary’s train station, and invested $150 million in improvements to local infrastructure around Oakdale West, home of the Amazon Robotics site.
"Since commencement of Amazon’s site, more than 4,000 construction workers have been inducted to build and develop one of the most technologically advanced fulfilment centres in Australia," says Goodman's CEO Australia, Jason Little.
"Our developments continue to increase in scale, providing essential infrastructure for the digital economy – from roads and transport, to local employment and innovative technology for supply chain efficiency.
Amazon worked with Goodman Group and its JV partner Brickworks to secure the site and Goodman is managing development of the facility.
Amazon Robotics will complement Amazon’s existing network of six Australian fulfilment centres launched in Dandenong South, Melbourne in December 2017, followed by Moorebank, Sydney in August 2018, Perth’s Airport Precinct in November 2019, Lytton, Brisbane in October 2020 and most recently a second site in Ravenhall, Melbourne FC in August 2021.
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