- Bringing this project to completion will require an investment of approximately 45 million euros.
- The fresh produce warehouse will be fully automated and begin to serve stores in August. The new facility will be fully operational by the end of the year.
- Putting this new facility into operation has already created 25 skilled, stable and quality jobs to be added to the current workforce.
- More than 50 construction suppliers and 300 people have been involved in building this logistics complex since works began in March of 2018.
Mercadona starts operations at its logistics centre in the Plaza Logistics Platform in Zaragoza with the grouping process, which involves grouping suppliers in the area of influence by product type for future shipments to the company’s different logistics centres. This strategy aims to minimise the number of trips to each destination.
After starting construction works in March 2018, Mercadona will gradually continue adding services to this platform, which will be at full capacity by early 2021. Specifically, the company expects to complete the automated fresh produce warehouse in August of this year, after which it will start to serve the first stores from the facility. The conventional dry warehouse will be finished before the end of the year.
According to Marta Máñez, Coordinator of the Zaragoza Logistics Centre, the development of this logistics centre is a significant challenge for the company. Building this logistics centre and putting it into service will require 45 million euros, a productive and sustainable investment that will not only help to strengthen Mercadona’s logistical efficiency but will also generate quality jobs and increase business in Plaza and Zaragoza, where the company has been committed to the economic and social growth of the city for over 28 years”.
Located on C/ Bari in the Plaza Logistics Platform, the facility spans 67,000 square metres with 30,000 square metres of building space. 50 construction suppliers and 300 people were involved in the execution phase.
Marta Mañez, Coordinator of the Zaragoza Logistics Centre.
With the launch of this logistics centre, Mercadona commences the process of progressively moving its logistics activities from its current facilities, also located in Plaza, which will continue to provide support services and storage for packaging. To date, the company has created 25 new skilled, stable and quality jobs in maintenance for the new logistics centre (i.e., refrigeration specialists, installation technicians, and maintenance assistants) and will be transferring staff from the old centre as the company rolls out new services.
Likewise, the logistics centre will be equipped with PPG (Overhead Crane Picking), an innovative system for the storage and automatic preparation of pallets of meat, fruit and vegetables that reduces worker strain and improves the handling of fresh products, so that they arrive at our supermarkets in fresher and better conditions.
This new logistics centre expands Mercadona’s capacity and strengthens the efficiency of its distribution network, which currently exceeds a million square metres. The company uses this distribution network to efficiently supply all its supermarkets, with the added goal of transporting more goods with fewer resources, while being “invisible” to the environment. The company invests heavily in modernising its logistics network, where more than 8,000 people work every day. By the end of 2018, Mercadona had invested a total of 257 million euros in its logistics network.
Header image: Marta Mañez, Coordinator of the Zaragoza Logistics Centre, with her co-worker.