Defence logistics will benefit from a more streamlined service from today with the opening of a new state-of-the-art logistics centre in Shropshire.
Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin, has officially opened the £83M facility, which will deliver £500M in savings through streamlining distribution and storage.
Comprising two warehouses and a support building, the Defence Fulfilment Centre (DFC) occupies come 80,000sq m. Designed to revolutionise logistics for the Armed Forces with new bespoke warehouse management systems, the centre will become a central hub for storage and distribution for items such as clothing, food, spare parts and medical supplies. The facility will be managed by Kuehne + Nagel on behalf of Team Leidos, and will boast an automated storage and retrieval system will be capable of picking more than 1,000 items an hour, as well as specialist environmental storage.
Construction of the centre has been managed on time and within budget, as part of the Logistic Commodities and Services Transformation (LCST) programme, which aims to deliver our Armed Forces what they want, when and where they want it as efficiently as possible.
Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin said: “The Defence Fulfilment Centre in Donnington will transform the way we store and distribute essential supplies to the Armed Forces who keep us safe. Supported by our rising defence budget, this £83M investment and partnership with leading logistics specialists is concrete evidence of our determination to give our personnel the very best support wherever they are in the world.”
Chief of Material (Land) at the MOD’s Defence Equipment and Support organisation, Lieutenant General Paul Jaques said: “The Defence Fulfilment Centre will transform the way we support our servicemen and servicewomen. Contribution to Operational Readiness through the provision of supplies and commodities to our Armed Forces will be on a par with industry best practice as a result of this investment in state-of-the art facilities.
“The opening of this centre on time and on budget is testament to the close and positive collaboration between Defence Equipment and Support, and Team Leidos. I very much look forward to seeing this fabulous facility fully operational in 2019.”
Leidos Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Roger Krone said: “The completion of the Defence Fulfilment Centre is an important milestone in our strategic plan to deliver enhanced information technology and logistics services to the Armed Forces.
This state-of-the-art facility is a conduit to ensuring front-line troops can get what they need, when they need it, by offering a more efficient and effective processes across the supply chain.”
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