The extension means Wincanton will continue to operate Britvic’s national distribution centre in Lutterworth, Leicestershire (UK). The deal extends a partnership between the two businesses that has lasted 20 years.
Wincanton operates a dedicated factory clearance operation in the form of a shuttle between the Rugby factory and the NDC – transporting 44 million cases a year – and an automated NDC with a throughput of 82 million cases a year.
In addition, it’s upgrading the NDC site architecture and technology to improve throughput and increase automation. An on-site energy consumption system has also been installed to reduce the impact of operations on the environment.
In last year’s July heatwave, the NDC team put a total of 17.6 million cases through the site. At peak, that was 400 vehicles and 10,096 pallets in one day – a record high.
“We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Britvic,” said Chris Kingshott, MD for manufacturing at Wincanton. “The soft drinks market has evolved considerably since we started working with Britvic in 1994, and we have continuously updated, evolved and improved our service to meet market demand. The heatwave last July was an exceptional challenge, but due to our flexibility and capability to quickly scale up our operations, we helped Britvic capitalise on one of its busiest periods in recent years.”
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