By Emma Koehn
Outgoing Coles boss Steven Cain says a new breed of tech-savvy grocery warehouse worker is in demand as the supermarket giant puts machines in charge of the heavy lifting at its new automated production facility west of Brisbane, which launches on Thursday.
There’s little need for human pickers and packers at the group’s Witron facility in Redbank, where more than 90 per cent of the stock that moves through the site is touched by automated systems.
The minute a grocery product such as soft drink, pet food or confectionary is delivered from suppliers to the sprawling, 34 metre-high warehouse, the systems can work out what an item is and where it needs to go. Machines can then stack boxes into Tetris-perfect rows, ready to ship back out to hundreds of Coles stores across Queensland and NSW.
Outgoing Coles CEO Steven Cain says using automation doesn’t mean the retailer needs fewer staff.Credit: Dan Peled
The automated systems, part of a $1 billion investment by Coles into more streamlined production facilities, remove the need for human forklift drivers or packers typically seen at a grocery distribution centre.
But Cain said the move to automation doesn’t mean fewer staff on site. Instead, the use of technology means the skills required at a distribution centre are changing, with a greater focus on workers overseeing the operation of the systems provided by Witron, Coles’ technology partner.
“The nature of roles in retail is changing, like it is in a lot of areas... The jobs that are in here are much more likely to be tech-based as opposed to manual-based,” he said.
“There’s probably a similar number of people on site to a [standard distribution centre]. However, it’s doing twice as much.”
Cain will hand over the reins at Coles to his successor Leah Weckert on May 1. Weckert, who joined Coles in 2011, had been mooted for the role after being appointed chief executive, commercial and express, last April.
Coles announced its foray into the automated distribution space four years ago, partnering with German logistics automation specialist Witron Logistik + Informatik to build the Ipswich facility as well as another site in NSW, which opens in 2024.
The minute a grocery product is delivered from suppliers to the warehouse, the systems can work out what an item is and where it needs to go.Credit: Dan Peled
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will tour the new site as it launches on Thursday.
Coles and its rival Woolworths are both pouring money into systems which streamline the organisation and distribution of its products both to physical stores and the home delivery market.
Woolworths announced plans for an automated home delivery facility in 2021, while Coles has also entered into a partnership with grocery tech maker Ocado to build automated facilities for the company’s home deliveries in Melbourne and Sydney.
The focus on smart systems and automation puts the grocery sector firmly in the war for tech talent, with Cain saying competition is tough.
“It’s fair to say the market is extremely tight for these types of skills. They are skills that are wanted by other sectors, it’s not just retail,” he said.
But the retailer is hoping its investments in automation and artificial intelligence, which help drive many of these automated processes, will make it a more attractive employer for those in areas like engineering.
“To think, ‘I could get a career in retail and work on something of this scale, it’s a real drawcard for talent’,” Coles chief operating officer Matt Swindells said.
The reporter travelled to Queensland as a guest of Coles.
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