NZ Safety Blackwoods has officially opened its new Drury South national distribution centre, featuring an AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) supplied by integrator Kardex. The new automated facility in South Auckland consolidates five existing distribution centres into a single, purpose‑built site. It strengthens NZ Safety Blackwoods’ ability to deliver products to customers across New Zealand faster, more accurately and with greater consistency.
Built to support growing customer demand and rising expectations around delivery speed and accuracy, the new facility brings together advanced automation, high density storage and streamlined processes. It provides a single distribution operation which can support more than 100,000 products (SKUs).
The new facility was officially opened on Friday 20 March 2026 by Sir Bill English, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current member of the board of Wesfarmers, which owns NZ Safety Blackwoods. Attendees were given guided tours of the new distribution centre and had the opportunity to see the AutoStore in action.
AutoStore increases picking efficiency tenfold
The AutoStore ASRS was implemented by a dedicated team from Kardex, the fastest-growing AutoStore integrator. It allows a new product to be presented to team members up to every four seconds during peak periods. Automation also drives a tenfold increase in picking efficiency, with a single team member able to pick up to 300 product lines per hour.
At full operation, the automated system will help NZ Safety Blackwoods serve close to 4,000 product lines a day to customers nationwide. Orders can be picked and presented in as little as three minutes, enabling ultra‑fast dispatch when customers
The AutoStore system from Kardex features high-density storage for 37,000 totes, each capable of storing 32 product lines, in a vertical grid within an area as small as 1,000 sq m. It is served by 32 R5 robots, six AutoStore Carousel Ports, six AutoStore Conveyor Ports, and six ergonomically-designed Kardex Intuitive Picking Assistants (IPA), which guide workers through the picking process by projecting all relevant information to optimise efficiency and accuracy. The facility enables NZ Safety Blackwoods to hold more stock closer together and respond faster to customer orders.
Dependable access to products for customers
The new national distribution centre reduces complexity, handling and delivery time, alongside improving inventory visibility and order accuracy. Customers also benefit from consolidated invoicing and simplified administration, helping procurement teams spend less time managing orders and more time supporting their operations.
New facility designed for safer, smarter operations
Alongside speed and efficiency, the Drury South facility has been designed with safety and sustainability at its core. Extensive use of automation reduces the need for team members to perform repetitive, physically demanding or higher‑risk manual tasks. The layout also separates people from mobile plant and active machinery zones.
