The expansion of the SPAR Eastern Cape distribution centre in Gqeberha through the new dry-goods warehouse and bulk storage facility has been a massive undertaking.
Maintenance manager Kanyisa Nombembe admits there have been many sleepless nights but she can finally reflect on it all.
“When I was told that I would be leading this project, I didn’t even know where I was going to start. It was intimidating,” she says.
Thankfully, her predecessor, Julian Koutsouvelis, had sound advice and the 44-year-old began to settle into the project.
Nombembe’s belief in her ability increased as the months rolled on, to the point that she now exudes an air of confidence associated with someone who project-manages such jobs all the time.
SPAR EC bought the neighbouring Corning Products building in Kohler Road last year and wasted no time in preparing it for the relocation of its dry-goods operations from Deal Party in the city.
The move means all dry goods and perishables will henceforth be handled at the Group’s provincial headquarters.
The Gugulethu Depot has been retired after some five years of service and its staffers redeployed to the DC.
The greater plan is that the development will be more practical from a logistics perspective while significantly cutting transportation costs.
The distance between the new premises in Perseverance and Deal Party may not seem imposing but, for a fleet of heavy-duty trucks, it is all but an economical trip given the road conditions and traffic congestion in the area.
Nombembe’s team collaborated with experts from Equites Property to construct the towering new warehouse. Everything inside the old building had to be removed.
“Many offices and dividing walls were demolished to create a big open space.”
Work quite literally started from the ground up with the floor having to be repaired and levelled to accommodate forklifts and the like.
“Another addition was a sprinkler system to make us fire safety-compliant.”
The building now bares little resemblance to its predecessor. Row upon row of brand-new industrial racking proudly fill the space awaiting the arrival of the first dry goods from the old depot.
One of the biggest builds has been a hardstand linking the DC’s existing warehouse with the new one to facilitate the movement of forklifts and other packing-related machinery between the two.
The scale of it is impressive as it needs to provide ample room for multiple drivers to operate at any given time without fear of coming a cropper.
Changes to the second, smaller building on the property have been minimal and it has been operating as a bulk-storage facility since November.
In-house SPAR EC industrial engineer Samora Sithole, 29, had been at the DC for the grand total of four months when he embarked on the biggest project of his career.
Surprised to be entrusted with such a large task so early on, he was encouraged by logistics executive Thembinkosi Neti who told him it was the perfect opportunity to learn the business and show his capabilities.
Working closely with Nombembe, Sithole’s first order of business was to find a way to store the stock, conveniently, in a smaller space.
“Gugs”, as he calls it, was more expansive and finding a suitable solution proved more difficult than it looked. Once achieved, he moved on to drafting the various timeframes of the move.
“I think it was the first time we did a warehouse relocation without stopping operations. That was the key thing,” he explains.
“In retail you obviously have to look at when it’s busier. We decided on April just before Easter.”
The days were long – exhaustively so.
On one occasion Sithole worked 23 hours straight but letting the site down was not an option.
Though his core team comprised five members, employees from other departments always put up their hands to help.
Over weekends there were around 50 people coming and going as they did their bit to get DC 2 up and running.
