New Zealand’s leading courier company, Courier Post, is investing NZ$ 50million (€23.8 million) ina new Auckland hub to maintain its market-leading position and expand capacity for future demand,
New Zealand media reported.The state-of-the-art depot at Highbrook, which is the largest single investment ever made bythe company, will serve as the central hub of Courier Post’s Auckland operations. The 19,500 sqmfacility includes 3,000 sqm of interchange and 2,000 sqm of office space, with the possibility toexpand further.
A key element of the facility, to be opened in April 2009, is the $16 million automatedparcel-sorting system with the capacity to process 18,000 items per hour. This is a massiveproductivity increase compared to the 3,000 items currently processed at CourierPost’s largestexisting depot in Auckland.
The central and easily accessible location in Highbrook was strategically chosen due to itsproximity to the company’s largest customers such as Office Max, which distributes approximately 17items per minute with CourierPost. It will replace three separate local sites.
CourierPost General Manager Mark Gibson said that CourierPost had consistently been at theforefront of investing in new technology. “This latest investment illustrates our market leadershipposition and our intention of maintaining it. The simple business imperative is to secure ourcompetitive advantage through streamlining CourierPost’s services for efficiency, security andsafety, therefore positioning us well for overall future growth.”
“We undertook this development and made the investment after projecting parcel volumes to2020, which we found exceeded CourierPost’s current capacities. To protect and increase our marketshare, an improvement was required,” he added.
In the last five years, CourierPost has constructed new depots on Auckland’s North Shore andin the city’s west and south. The construction of a new depot in Queenstown was also completedearlier this year. The company claims a 46% market share in New Zealand.
