By Allon Lee
A NEW $16 million freight hub in Sunshine is good news for 70 employees and the West.
On Wednesday, Northline Freight Management will open a stateofthe art, purposebuilt warehousing and freightforwarding facility in Strezlecki Ave, Sunshine.
“The demographics are good for us. It’s close to the railroad. Not far from the wharf, reasonably close from the airport. A lot of our customer base is on this side of town,” Northline Freight Victorian state manager John Willitts said.
The 23,000 square metre complex employs 70 workers, many local to Sunshine.
“Most of the workers are local residents. A few came across from Tullamarine when we took over an outsource warehouse,” he said.
The company expects the new distribution centre will create more job opportunities.
“All it takes is one new client and we can add as many as 10 new jobs to our operation,” Mr Willitts said.
A business with an annual turnover of $100 million, 350 employees, 1200 customers and 10 depots around Australia, Mr Willitts said the Sunshine site would replace three former warehouses in Melbourne.
Other businesses will receive flowon benefits from the new complex, he claimed.
“We’re offering an integrated distribution centre with the latest warehousing and freight management processes that gives small to mediumsize companies access to facilities that were previously reserved only for the big end of town,” Mr Willitts said.
The complex is divided into three warehouses comprising 15,500 square metres of foodgrade quality storage.
“How long something is warehoused depends upon the product. Some customers might do 10 or 12 stock turns in a year, whereas others might be a bit more seasonal,” he said.
“For example we have one customer who does jet skis and obviously they move leading up to the summer and they don’t sell very well in the winter and so they will sit in storage.
“But food products turn over quite quickly.”
The Sunshine centre has an important role to play in the company’s fortunes, he said.
“It’s extremely important. If you look at Melbourne and Sydney, probably the greatest volume of freight is generated at those two ports, particularly stuff that comes in from overseas.
“But if you look at Darwin and Perth, very little comes out of those places but a lot goes in,” Mr Willitts said.
“They are seen more as a receiving depot and Melbourne is a despatching depot.”
