DC of the future

The East Midlands Gateway building is being billed as one of the most advanced of its kind in the world.

Next year, a new $77 million warehouse at SEGRO East Midlands Gateway, dubbed the Digital Distribution Centre of the Future, will start handling goods made by Nestle. The centre has been created thanks to a partnership between XPO Logistics, Nestle and Swisslog Logistics Automation – and has had a gestation period of around five years.

James Sharples, managing director of Swisslog UK, says the site’s digital ecosystem integrates predictive data and intelligent machines to deliver one of the most advanced distribution management centres in the world.
But as well as being a distribution centre, the building will have its own on-site laboratory, in which new systems will be tested and trialled, with a view to being introduced at some point in the future.

Sharples adds: “We’ve taken some of our existing technology and adapted and improved it to create this bespoke facility. But it does not stop there. Even when the centre is up and running we will be working with XPO, continuing to look at new ways of improving efficiency and increasing volume.”

Swisslog ACPaQ is being used to make up a pallet with different products.