PepsiCo has unveiled a £14 million upgrade to its Leicester distribution centre, marking one of its biggest ever logistics investments in the UK to date.
The company said that the new centre will be utilised to meet growing consumer demand for Walkers crisps and will allow for an increase in distribution efficiency.
According to the producer, the new site is installed with “state-of-the-art” equipment that is set to increase storage capacity at the location by 29 per cent.
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As a result, the business estimates that 600,000 kilometres will be taken off the road due to a reduction in need for transport to overspill sites, which is equivalent to around 400 metric tonnes of CO2 each year.
It also confirmed that its stock pallets will no longer be moved by cranes and will instead be replaced by 18 shuttle cars across nine levels, creating a more efficient storage and assembly process.
“After two years of planning and execution, our new SRDC building is now open for business, and set to dramatically change our logistics operation,” PepsiCo SRDC site lead Andy Smethurst said.
“It will create more efficiencies, more capacity and importantly also take miles off the road so we can reduce our carbon footprint.
“We’re confident that this will allow us to serve our retail customers with more agility, while also ensuring the future success of our distribution centre.”
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