Stellantis has invested more than $18.2m in a parts distribution centre (PDC) in Brampton, Ontario to move Mopar brand service parts through to the greater Toronto area, Quebec and eastern Canada.
Stellantis said the PDC has capacity for 55,000 parts and the ability to ship an estimated 2m orders annually.
The facility is being managed by Stellantis/Mopar with operating partners from logistics provider Day & Ross and Team Industrial, as well as represented employees from the Unifor Local 1285 trade union branch. Day & Ross is also providing last mile carrier parts delivery services in the region, along with other partner carriers selected by Stellantis North America.
The Brampton facility is the first PDC in North America to use Autostore’s automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS). The cube storage system, supported by SwissLog SQ software, includes 27 picking robots that move along tracks that are built above a 5-metre-tall grid stocked with parts. The grid is made up of 43,000 bins stacked within 3,600 sq.m of storage space from which the robots pick parts and transport them directly to production stations where PDC staff pack and process the final shipments.
Stellantis said the AutoStore system “significantly increases the speed, precision and reliability of parts procurement within the PDC, leading to on-time shipping while also reducing the floorspace needed to house the immense supply of parts”.
“We’re proud to be the first Stellantis facility in North America to utilise the AutoStore system,” said a spokesperson for Stellantis. “SwissLog is the integrator we selected for this particular launch, working with them based on their experience on the market, warehouse management system software in other like industries as well as other parts distribution facilities across the globe.”
Mike Koval Jr, senior vice-president, head of Mopar North America, said: We’re bringing the latest technology and innovation into our facility to support our dedicated Unifor-represented employees. This new, state-of-the-art workplace will improve efficiency for our dealers and customers while ensuring that we can quickly deliver the right part at the right time every time.”
The new Brampton PDC combines the operations of the former Montreal and Mississauga PDCs and the AutoStore system has further reduced the footprint of the combined operations. Stellantis said that the carbon reduction of consolidating the operations supports its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan to reduce emissions across its business.
The Brampton PDC is one of 21 facilities in North America that supply replacement and custom parts to dealerships and aftermarket customers. It employs 170 people.
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