NZ Safety Blackwoods has officially opened its new Drury South distribution centre, strengthening its ability to deliver critical safety, engineering and workplace 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 in a single national hub based in South Auckland.
The result is a distribution operation designed to keep customers’ sites running safely and without interruption. At full operation, the automated system will help NZ Safety Blackwoods serve close to 4000 product lines a day to customers nationwide.
Orders can be picked and presented in as little as three minutes, enabling ultrafast dispatch when customers need essential items on site quickly.
“Customers rely on us for products that are fundamental to safety and productivity,” head of operations Chris Mason says.
“When something is missing or delayed, work can stop. This new distribution centre is about reducing that risk — by moving product through our network faster, more accurately and with far greater reliability.”
The centre uses the AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system — which was implemented by Kardex’s dedicated AutoStore team — which allows a new product to be presented to team members up to every four seconds during peak periods. The automation also drives a tenfold increase in picking efficiency, with a single team member able to pick up to 300 product lines per hour.
High density storage plays a critical role — 38,000 totes, each capable of storing 32 product lines, are stored within an area as small as 1000 square metres, enabling NZ Safety Blackwoods to hold more stock closer together, and respond faster to customer orders.
Dependable access to products
For customers, the benefits are practical and immediate — faster fulfilment, fewer split deliveries and more dependable access to the products that underpin safe, compliant workplaces.
By consolidating five existing distribution centres into a single, purpose-built site, NZ Safety Blackwoods can fulfil orders from one location rather than multiple sites, reducing complexity, handling and delivery time.
The new facility has been designed to support more than 100,000 products across the NZ Safety Blackwoods range, 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.
“For more than 100 years, NZ Safety Blackwoods has existed to support New Zealand businesses with the products and expertise they rely on every day,” NZ Safety Blackwoods general manager Andy Antoci says.
“Today we serve customers right across the country, from large industrial and infrastructure projects to manufacturers, contractors and essential services. This distribution centre reflects both the scale of our business and our responsibility to keep customers supplied, safe and operating without disruption,” Antoci says.
For the Wesfarmers-owned NZ Safety Blackwoods, the new distribution centre represents a significant, long‑term investment in its national supply chain — ensuring supply chain and industry partners can have confidence in NZ Safety Blackwoods’ national distribution capability at a time when resilience, responsiveness and certainty are increasingly important.
New facility designed for safer, smarter operations
Alongside speed and efficiency, the Drury South facility has been designed with safety 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.
“Building a new facility from the ground up gave us the opportunity to design safety into every part of the operation. It creates a better working environment for our team and supports long-term operational stability,” Antoci says.
“The technology has been implemented with a clear focus on safety‑by‑design and people‑first operations, reducing higher‑risk manual tasks while supporting consistent, repeatable performance at scale.”
Sustainability embedded into the build
The distribution centre also reflects NZ Safety Blackwoods’ commitment to more sustainable operations. The building structure has been designed to minimise embodied carbon and has been upgraded, in partnership with Calder Stewart, to accommodate a 0.5 megawatt solar energy system, capable of running critical systems.
Other sustainability-related features include:
• daylight harvesting via translucent roof sheeting,
• solar energy to minimise carbon footprint,
• rainwater harvesting tanks,
• Lowe double glazing,
• a building management system for energy and water monitoring and efficiency, including motion sensors for lighting controls and rapid rise doors,
• low VOC paint, containing fewer volatile organic compounds than standard paint, and
• landscaping design featuring low water use.
Consolidating five existing distribution centres into one also reduces internal product movement, deliveries and packaging, contributing to a more efficient overall operation.
The almost 18,000 sq m facility — including office space and a trade centre — is located at Drury South Crossing, and has been developed in partnership with national property and construction firm Calder Stewart.
“This state of-the-art facility reflects the growing demand for modern, efficient and sustainable warehousing infrastructure across New Zealand,” Calder Stewart general manager property Ben Murphy says.
“Partnering alongside NZ Safety Blackwoods, our focus was to deliver a purpose-built facility that integrates advanced automation, supports safer operations, and provides the flexibility required for a national distribution network. The result is a future-ready asset designed to support their business and customers for many years to come.”
Kardex is proud to partner with NZ Safety Blackwoods on the project, according to Kardex AutoStore ANZ business development director Grant Smith.
“Working closely together, we’ve created a modern fulfilment centre using AutoStore technology and Kardex software to bring NZ Safety Blackwoods operations into one consolidated footprint,” Smith says.
“Increasing accuracy and delivering intelligent order fulfilment with Kardex innovations that are first of their kind in New Zealand improves NZ Safety Blackwoods’ service delivery capabilities as the business grows.”
About NZ Safety Blackwoods
With more than 100 years’ experience and expertise, NZ Safety Blackwoods is a leading supplier to New Zealand businesses of safety equipment, engineering products and services, workwear and uniforms, footwear, office and hygiene products, as well as Worksafe training, signage and packaging solutions.
The company’s nationwide operation includes 35 trade centres, and employs more than 550 team members. Customers are supported by user-friendly digital platforms, and award-winning sales and customer service teams offering expert knowledgeable advice.
With a vast range of more than 100,000 products and a $50 million inventory, NZ Safety Blackwoods ensures customers always have what they need.
Partnering with NZ Safety Blackwoods enables businesses to leverage their scale, knowledge and relationships with preferred suppliers to access the best products at the right price. It is committed to its local communities, and is an accredited partner of MATES in Construction.
For more information visit nzsafetyblackwoods.co.nz.
