Delivering tech-driven facilities for operational excellence

When leading electrical wholesaler Lawrence & Hanson sought a new Brisbane fulfillment centre to support the growth its e-commerce business, it collaborated with Goodman to shape a sustainable, high-performance facility tailored to its needs.

Integrated with next-generation automation technology, the state-of-the-art facility has helped future-proof Lawrence & Hanson’s operations and increased its inventory capacity by 500%.

A prime last-mile location
Lawrence & Hanson was founded in 1886 and now employs over 1,000 staff in 170 branches across Australia, servicing the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. It approached Goodman to deliver a new, fulfilment centre to consolidate branches and unlock faster access to Brisbane customers. 
Located just 29 kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD, Redbank Motorway Estate offers toll-free access to the adjacent Ipswich Motorway, enabling Lawrence & Hanson to reach 2.4 million customers within just 60 minutes*.

Future-proofed through tech integration 
When planning the facility with Goodman, Lawrence & Hanson specified the need to integrate a bespoke automatic storage and retrieval system developed by its parent company, Sonepar Group.

“A key component of our brief to Goodman was to supply a facility compatible with automation. An important characteristic is that the floor had to be super-flat,” said Michael Pauli, Regional Supply Chain Manager at Lawrence & Hanson.

Leveraging its in-house expertise and track record of developing similar properties for high-profile customers including Coles, Australia Post and FedEx, Goodman delivered a flexible, customised base building with a perfectly flat floor, ensuring seamless integration with the automation system.

Goodman accommodated a specialised area within the warehouse for handling bulky goods, enabling the integration of cutting-edge robotics. These advanced capabilities are helping to drive greater efficiency for Lawrence & Hanson and support its continued growth. 

Innovating and growing together
Redbank Motorway Estate’s highly connected location has enhanced the efficiency of Lawrence & Hanson’s supply chain while allowing it to upscale its e-commerce capabilities.

Incorporating automation has improved productivity by reducing overheads while optimising efficiency for Lawrence & Hanson, enabling it to expand its inventory by 500%, with the new facility holding up to 20,000 product lines. 

“Having an automated system allows us to increase the range of products that we have for our customers and our branches, as well as the depth of product that we can hold,” said Mr Pauli.

Aligned with Goodman’s commitment to sustainability, Lawrence & Hanson’s facility has offset upfront embodied carbon and features EV chargers, 300 kW of rooftop solar, and onsite rainwater harvesting. These features  help the facility balance efficiency with responsible long-term environmental performance.

*Esri and Michael Bauer research