Panattoni is constructing a fully robotic BTS (built-to-suit) distribution centre for Auchan Polska. The centre in Wilcza Góra near Warsaw is to service Auchan’s customers from its updated internet platform.
Last April, Auchan Polska unveiled its new internet store, which prioritises greater convenience and more personalised shopping for its customers. This represented the first stage of a partnership between Auchan and British-based Ocado – a leader in logistics automation and robotics for the e-grocery business. The next stage will involve the opening of an automated distribution centre to support customers with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Such systems will broaden the range of goods on offer to as many as 40,000 products and enable deliveries – including same-day deliveries – to be improved with more flexible timings, thus increasing the convenience of shopping online.
“We can confidently say that our hi-tech distribution centre is going to be a real game-changer for the Polish market – particularly when it comes to our innovative solutions to streamline the picking and packing of orders and to manage last-mile logistics,” comments Piotr Dopierała, the Supply Chain & Logistics Director at Auchan Retail Polska.
“It is an honour and a mark of Auchan Polska’s confidence to have been entrusted with the development of such a strategically important project. The new distribution centre will enable our client to scale up its e-commerce operations, which is a particularly promising part of its business. Because of the extensive automation and customisation to meet the demands of the e-grocery business, this project is exceptionally innovative. Being the leading developer, we can draw on our experience of building logistics centres for the biggest players on the market and this experience is crucial when undertaking such ambitious projects,” says Marek Dobrzycki, a Partner at Panattoni.
Construction work on the new distribution centre was launched in the third quarter of this year with the work scheduled for completion in June 2025. The client is to be granted early access to the centre in March, but operations will begin in the fourth quarter of next year after the installation of Ocado’s technology. As a result of process streamlining and the increased scalability of the centre, it will be possible to handle a larger number of orders more effectively even during the peak season. This will improve the convenience of shopping for customers.
The distribution centre is to be environmentally certified under BREEAM for a rating of Excellent, which will result in lower operating costs for the tenant. The roof of the building is to be reinforced and ready for the future installation of solar panelling and the building’s energy-efficient lighting is to be controlled by motion and dusk sensors. As part of the green measures to be taken, delivery routes are to be optimised to limit CO₂ emissions and the automated packing systems will reduce the use of packaging materials.
