Dematic celebrating 40 years of innovation

With its commitment to innovation in logistics and materials handling, Dematic has played a leadership role in helping transform the supply chain in Australia into one of the most efficient in the world.

Many of the country’s leading retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers have worked closely with Dematic over the past 40 years to achieve world’s best practice logistics performance and competitive advantage in their markets.

The result is that every day millions of people buy and use products that have been manufactured, stored, picked or distributed by Dematic logistics systems at some point in the supply chain.

In 2007, Dematic celebrates 40 years of innovation as a regional centre of excellence in one of the world’s largest logistics automation networks.

The company Gerry Hatton started from his garage in 1967 has continued to grow and evolve through various business transitions from Colby to Mannesmann to Siemens to Dematic.

In respect for its long heritage and strong recognition in the storage equipment market, the Colby name continues today as Dematic’s Storage Equipment Division brand.

People Behind the Record of Success

According to Managing Director Stephen Reeve, the key to Dematic’s long track record of success is the experienced and knowledgeable team of people the company has built up over the past 40 years.

In Australia alone, Dematic employs some 300 people - more than two thirds of whom are qualified mechanical, electrical, electronics and software engineers and service technicians - making it one of Australia’s leading expert engineering companies.

Dematic is committed to innovation and constantly pushing the boundaries in terms of what can be achieved through new technologies, systems and software, but the real key to its success undoubtedly lies in its great team of people, said Stephen Reeve.

“Over the years we have built up a strong core of logistics knowledge and experience that I believe is unmatched in the Asia Pacific region,” he said.

“We have a large number of people with over 10, 20, even 30 years experience, and that shows in both the way we approach our projects and the results we deliver.

“When you add to that our ability to tap into the world’s largest network of logistics specialists and draw on their expertise, it means we are able to offer customers a unique combination of global knowledge and local experience, backed by 24/7 service and support.”

“As well as ensuring we have the best and most experienced team of professionals in the industry, our ability to hold onto key people has also ensured long-term stability for our customers,” said Mr Reeve.

“While we’d like to think that every project we work on will be a spectacular success, the reality is that sometimes things just don’t quite work out as planned.

“One of the reasons we have earned an excellent reputation for delivering results for our customers is that even if we do encounter unforeseen problems, we never walk away from a job until the problems are resolved.”

Innovation Rewarded

With the company having consistently led the market with new technologies and approaches to enhance logistics efficiency and performance, it is no surprise that Dematic customers have been consistently rewarded for their innovative logistics systems by industry groups and associations (see list).

Dematic customers to have won awards in recent years include Australian Pharmaceutical Industries, P&O Logistics, Masterfoods and Repco. Dematic customers have also been recognised in New Zealand. EziBuy, the Trans-Tasman fashion and home décor catalogue company, was recently presented with an award for supply chain innovation by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport for its new distribution centre (DC) at Palmerston North in New Zealand.

Designed in conjunction with Dematic, the site is the size of nine rugby fields, making it is the largest DC of its kind in NZ and the first to feature such extensive use of new order fulfilment technologies including Voice-Directed Order Picking and a 2.4km long smart conveyor system that only delivers orders to where they need to go.

Leveraging Scale to Deliver Value

When Siemens Logistics & Assembly Systems became Dematic over a year ago, the global business was restructured. It now comprises seven Regional Competence Centres (Australia being the Regional Competence Centre for the Asia Pacific region) and four Global Industry Groups:

• Grocery & General Merchandise
• Wholesale & Direct
• Food & Beverage
• Manufacturing

In addition to Australia and New Zealand, Dematic is responsible for operations throughout the Asia Pacific region, including China, Taiwan, Korea and SE Asia.

Stephen Reeve said the new structure gives the opportunity to leverage greater global economies of scale, and more effective use of global resources, which had translated into lower costs and more innovative and greater value solutions for customers.

The Next 40 Years

Looking forward to the next 40 years, Stephen Reeve said Dematic will continue to build on its outstanding reputation for excellence in logistics and distribution systems design, manufacturing, project management, service and support.

“Our Logistics Systems group will carry on developing innovative, customer focussed distribution solutions and the Real Time Logistics group will continue to deliver best of breed integrated logistics IT systems.

“Colby Storage Solutions will continue our heritage of providing customers with choice, outstanding value and great service through our national network of storage system experts.”

Award-Winning Performance

The following list of Dematic customers have won awards for supply chain excellence in recognition of Dematic’s innovative approach to solving materials handling and logistics problems:

For more information, please contact Peter Trotter:

peter.trotter@dematic.com
Ph. 61 (0) 419 566 366