SMC opens new Southern Australia distribution centre

SMC in Victoria recently held an open day to mark the official launch of their Southern Australia distribution centre. The day was attended by nearly 100 customers who came to view the upgraded facilities and attend the product and industry presentations.

SMC Pneumatics, a Japanese-owned company with over 80 offices globally, established its first subsidiary outside of Japan in Australia just over 50 years ago. Since then the Australian market has always held a special place for the Japanese head office, and in fact, it became the blueprint for the rollout of all the subsidiary companies which were to follow.

Today, SMC Australia|New Zealand has 10 branches and employs over 200 people in the region. With a sales staff of 88, the company has a philosophy of being close to the customer to enable to them to develop customer-centric solutions.

It is little wonder then that the Victorian branch of SMC recently saw an upgrade which would repurpose this branch to become a central distribution warehouse for the region. The 7327 m² land together with the 3049 m² building is owned by SMC and has plenty of space for expansion. The local stockholding of this branch alone was tripled to enable same-day delivery of standard parts to customers in Victoria and overnight delivery to South Australia and Tasmania.

The facility includes a warehouse with large local stock holding, a training facility with up-to-date training models and an engineering and design department.

Rodney Ryan, state manager for Victoria, feels the move was just a matter of time. “We established a central warehousing centre at our Victorian facility, and the positive feedback from the market gave us the indication that customers were ready for such a facility. The quicker turnaround time on orders and the availability of critical spares were welcomed by customers. Pneumatics are a critical component of the production line, and customers need quick support and turnaround when spare parts are needed. We are happy to be able to answer this call.

“We have always had a philosophy of being customer-centric. Our business and products have evolved and developed around the feedback we receive from our customers. The feedback was quicker delivery and more stock of critical parts, and SMC is glad to deliver.”

Image: SMC Southern Australia Distribution Centre in Melbourne.