£30 million upgrade planned to boost services at flat-pack giant IKEA in Peterborough
A £30 million upgrade is to be made to services at the retail giant IKEA in Peterborough.
The multi-million pound investment will see a range of new technology installed at IKEA’s distribution centre in Kingston Park over the next two years.
A spokesperson for the Swedish flatpack retailer said the investment will allow IKEA to launch its new PackSize technology that will prevent waste from both oversized cardboard boxes and filling materials.
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It will allow staff to package customer orders to size.
On average, the technology reduces material usage by up to 30 per cent.
The technology is expected to increase the share of parcels processed through automation at the centre from 47 per cent to 75 per cent by 2027.
A company spokesperson said the investment would not mean an increase in the size of the workforce in Peterborough.
But he added: “The new technology will help the fulfilment team prepare orders for delivery more efficiently.
"These additional orders would otherwise have been packaged by manually creating a packing carton which includes having to measure the article then creating the cartons to fit the order.
"The technology upgrades are enabling IKEA’s fulfilment team to work more efficiently and will not impact staffing levels at the centre.”
David McCabe, chief executive of IKEA, which employs about 200 people in Peterborough, said: “We are always on the lookout for new ways to do things better, and that’s true across the operational side of our business just as much as the innovative new products and services we bring to market.
"This investments in our Peterborough centre will ensure fulfilment is smoother than ever and reduce our environmental footprint – while positioning the business for long-term success.
“Our wonderful team of co-workers in Peterborough work tirelessly getting orders to our customers, and we couldn’t function without them.
"We’re empowering our people to get the best out of these new technologies, and we’re excited to watch them grow alongside the business.”
Three years ago, the company recruited 100 extra staff as it sought to strengthen its customer support team at its Peterborough distribution centre.