Australia Post set to open new Queensland facility
Australia Post has announced that its new facility in Redbank, Queensland – billed as “the largest parcel facility and delivery centre in the southern hemisphere” – is set to open its doors this October, in time for the busy pre-Christmas period.
The new facility is equipped with new automated technology which will process up to 700,000 parcels per day at peak – or over 35,000 parcels an hour.
Some of this equipment – such as robotic arms, automated guided vehicles – is already being used in Australia Post’s facilities in Sydney and Melbourne. The new Redbank site will also feature an automated parcel picker said to be “the first of its kind in Australia”.
Australia Post Group Chief Operating Officer Bob Black said the 50,000 square metre site will meet the growing demands of online shopping in Queensland.
“We know Australia’s love affair with online shopping isn’t slowing down. Last year Australians spent $27.5 billion nationally, an increase of 24% on 2017,” said Black.
“Queensland’s love affair with online shopping also continues, and in 2018 it grew by 21% from the previous year – ahead of the national average.
“Making up 19% of all online shopping across the nation, Queensland also had three of the top 10 postcodes – Toowoomba, Mackay and Bundaberg – each with strong growth all above 20%.
“Our new Redbank site will be operational in time for our busy pre-Christmas period. Last year we experienced our biggest peak period ever, delivering over 40 million parcels nationally in December alone, including a record three million parcels in a single day, and we know this year will be even bigger.
“We’ll have 500 employees stationed at the new facility, a demonstration of our commitment to Queensland jobs and to remaining Australia’s preferred and most trusted delivery provider.”
Black said the Australia Post is investing in new technology to keep pace with the growing parcel volumes.
“Automation and our new parcel processing technology are important measures to reduce manual handling and create safer jobs for our people,” said Black.
“As a business we know how important it is to continue to invest in our workforce, especially where there are opportunities for us to retrain our people to transition from the declining letters business to our growing parcels business.”
The new facility is part of Australia Post’s three-year, $900 million investment in parcel processing nationally.
