Drakes Supermarkets has one of Australia's most advanced warehouse systems

Drakes Supermarkets has chosen Dematic to install its robotic piece picking solution in a new state-of-the-art distribution centre in South Australia. It is the first time the robotic picking system will be deployed in Australia.

Drakes Supermarkets is one of Australia's largest independent grocery retailers. The AUD80 million (USD56.5 million) Drakes DC, which has received planning consent from the City of Playford and is fully funded by the South Australian family-owned business, will be located at Edinburgh North, and is expected to create up to 550 jobs.

"Our new facility will be the most advanced independent distribution and logistics centre in South Australia and is a key part of our group's vertical integration strategy within the supermarket sector," says Glenn Sutcliffe, logistics manager at Drakes Supermarkets. "We are excited that the centre will incorporate robotics as part of a wider high-tech warehouse picking system."

Drakes has chosen Dematic's RapidPICK 1-to1 Good-To-Person (GTP) solution including the Dematic Multishuttle buffering and sequencing system and robotic piece picking.

This is the first robotic piece picking module Dematic will deploy in Australia and only the second globally.

"Some of the key benefits of the new Dematic solution include the security of high-value items and increased pick rates, which meet Drakes Supermarkets' needs in an increasingly competitive grocery sector," says Terry Jamieson, business development manager, Dematic Australia.