Victoria’s economic and population growth is driving major new industrial/commercial developments, and with land prices soaring, designers and builders are striving for innovation. Logistics service providers, too, have developed advanced systems to make best use of available space, writes Charles Pauka.
On the east side of Melbourne, Caribbean Park has been developed to take advantage of the soon-to-open Eastlink Freeway. The park has a total of 450 acres of land area as well as 80 acres of the Lake Caribbean. The combination of technologybased incubators, campus-style multinational company facilities, unique environment, infrastructure and flexible building space makes Caribbean Park an innovative and pleasant location for business.
The amity of the business park owes much to project planners and designers, Wilkore. Wilkore is a design and construction company providing building services to Australian business. Wilkore’s expertise is in building distribution centres, offices and laboratories for the logistics, pharmaceuticals and hi-tech manufacturing industries. Wilkore has been responsible for the planning and development of Caribbean Business Park, including master planning, design and supervision of the installation of infrastructure, and marketing.
The company’s focus over the last 18 years has been to specialise in constructing facilities for companies who are using new technologies to grow their business. These include facilities for technology companies, laboratories and DCs for pharmaceutical firms and others such as Panasonic, Gillette, Hallmark Cards, Motorola, Coles, Becton Dickinson and Paperlinx.
Somerton Logistics Centre Located on the Hume Highway in Somerton, the Somerton Logistics Centre is due for completion at the end of May 2008. It is said to be the biggest-ever speculative industrial estate built at one time in Victoria and has been developed specifically for logistics occupiers that require all the options. The estate comprises eight first-class buildings totalling approximately 123,263 sqm, with areas available ranging from approximately 4,000 sqm to 56,000 sqm.
The estate enjoys multiple access points across four street frontages including the Hume Highway, Cooper Street, Fillo Drive and Transport Drive. It has good access to all major arterials – Melboure airport and port, as well as being located adjacent to the Intermodal Inland Rail Terminal.
The estate has an anticipated rental rate of approximately $80 per sqm p.a. and low anticipated outgoings, which range between approximately $4 and $6.50 per sqm p.a.
For more information contact Robert Butera on (03) 9672 6602 or email robert. butera@ap.jll.com.
McPhee Distribution Services
Everyone in the transport industry, and many outside it, knows and respects the name McPhee. What is not commonly known is that, despite the McPhee family’s exit from the transport industry following the sale of McPhee Transport in 1987 after 64 years of successful trading, the family retained a strong interest and involvement in logistics through McPhee Distribution Services, the 3rd party warehousing and distribution company founded by John McPhee in 1984.
McPhee Distribution Services has a significant presence in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Their clients include many internationally well-known brands.
In Melbourne, McPhee currently occupies two warehouses in Barry Road, Campbellfield. One accommodates Powercor, a long-term client who have just renewed their contract with McPhee, and the other satisfies the needs of McPhee’s many other clients.
To maximise efficiency and to provide for continued growth, McPhee have now commissioned the construction of a ‘greenfields’ facility adjacent to the Powercor site in Campbellfield. This site will be operational in the last quarter of 2008.
The selection of the Campbellfield site took into consideration proximity to Tullamarine and the Western Ring Road and Eastlink, and great access to the main arterials servicing other states.
Remaining in the same area also ensured that valuable staff were retained. This is extremely important as the company has a strong belief in its people being its greatest asset. The skills shortage is hitting the industry hard, but McPhee’s retention strategies have ensured that some 62% of staff has remained with the company for over 10 years.
McPhee is working with several agencies to ensure that the new site employs ‘green’ and safe work practices, with stateof- the-art technology that will benefit current and future clients’ needs. The design of the new building addresses the specific requirements of McPhee’s target market, providing for fine detail picking, spare parts management, value adding and exceptional service provision.
The layout is flexible enough to accommodate an industrial client such as Powercor with transformers and light poles to the requirements of the medium sized importer or manufacturer who wants to grow his business with total confidence in his supply chain.
Dispatches can be controlled by serial number, use by date, first in first out or any other method that may suit a particular business’s needs, and voice-picking technology is being integrated to streamline high-volume product order assembly.
IFC Global Logistics IFC Global Logistics was founded in 1991 and was the brainchild of its current managing director Renzo Bevinetto. Since that time it has grown into becoming one of the country’s leading companies in transport and logistics, providing end-to-end supply chain solutions across a range of industries and customers.
A key driver for IFC’s competitive advantage comes from its home-grown system ‘Freight Supply Chain’ (FSC), which deals with the accurate and timely flow of information throughout the global supply chain linking up multiple stakeholders and making critical information visible to all parties to ensure a smooth and seamless transaction on all shipments. FSC is a web-based application and shipment data is accessible by stakeholders via their own ERP systems.
IFC has a growing 3PL & 4PL business situated on its 15,000 sqm property in Altona. Currently the fully integrated warehouse consists of 8,000 sqm of racked facilities, with a further 6,000 sqm of new warehouse space under construction that should be completed by July 2008. The existing warehouse also has a 2,000 sqm cross-dock facility.
IFC warehousing and distribution runs on the Manhattan warehouse management system. IFC believes in providing its customers with the best technology on offer and has joined two leading WMS providers in SSI Schaefer for its racking and Manhattan for its IT systems, providing RF/barcoding capabilities.
For more information contact Brett Armitage on (03) 8398 0650, email barmitage@ ifc.com.au or visit www.ifc.com.au.
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