3 days ago
- Automotive
- West Australian
Toyota opens biggest car parts centre in southern hemisphere in Kewdale
Toyota has officially opened its $115 million parts and accessories centre — the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere and among the most valuable industrial properties ever built in WA.
The Kewdale facility is more than three times the size of its previous site, with a massive 22,000sqm workshop — enough to cover more than three soccer fields.
In a sign of the Japanese multinational's confidence in WA, the facility services 550,000 Toyota vehicles on local roads, with ample capacity for expansion.
The wholesale centre means Toyota drivers will likely no longer need to wait for spare parts from the east coast or overseas — delays that emerged during the COVID pandemic.
Gary Nettle, executive director of Toyota WA's parts distribution, said the size and technology of the new Parts and Accessories Distributor Facility were unprecedented in the southern hemisphere.
'We have invested heavily in 'world's best' technical innovation, notably automation explicitly designed to optimise the flow of goods whilst minimising time and disruption,' Mr Nettle said.
'To put the size of this centre into perspective, you will better understand its scale when I tell you that this facility can house four A380 jets and accommodate the entire Optus Stadium and if we wanted to get real cosy we could get about 94,000 people in here.'
Mr Nettle said the facility operates on the ADAPTO system — an automated storage and retrieval system developed with Toyota subsidiary Vanderlande.
The system includes driverless vehicles and 44 robotic shuttles that collect and deliver parts to mechanics in another section. Shuttle traffic is software-controlled to maximise efficiency.
The winding conveyor belt system spans more than 630 metres — the length of about 140 Corollas lined up bumper to bumper.
While artificial intelligence is displacing jobs globally, Mr Nettle told last night's launch that the system would allow staff to focus on 'more complex tasks instead of repetitive ones'.
He said early data indicated that the centre's rate of receiving inbound goods is about six times faster than at the previous facility, indicating dealerships will have to hold significantly lower stock holdings to cope with demand.
The system involves seven inbound loading docks and a further 18 dedicated dispatch doors.
The whole centre is powered by nearly 1000 solar panels behind a 400kW PV system, helping it achieve a 5.5 Green Star rating and a 94 per cent weighted recycling rate during construction.
In a sign of WA's maturing industrial property sector, the racking and three-level mezzanine structure was designed, engineered and manufactured by Bassendean company APC.
The new centre includes a Stan Perron training room, in honour of the late entrepreneur, who sold Toyota's commercial and passenger models as well as their parts and accessories from the late 1960s.
The arrangement with Toyota operated for many decades with no written contract, instead relying on a handshake agreement.
