The Truganina hub, in Melbourne’s west, also includes the grouping of the state operations for Lube Mobile, Webfleet Solutions and the expansion into new areas, including the opening of an onsite truck wash.

Melbourne’s western suburbs site is in Truganina’s Midwest Business Hub, located between the Princes Freeway and the Western Freeway. This location makes it convenient and accessible for truck customers and also for businesses in the industrial precinct and surrounding community.

Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand managing director, Stephen Roche, said the new site is key to maintaining sustainable business operations in Victoria.

“The official opening of our brand-new facility in Truganina is exciting and a milestone for us as a business,” he said.

“Truganina is the hub of our operations in Victoria and will play a significant role across all of our sales channels, and directly benefit our customers.

“The Truganina site also points towards Bridgestone’s future direction as we continue our evolution to become a global leader in providing sustainable mobility solutions – demonstrated by the coming together of Bridgestone’s operations, as well as those of our mobile mechanical provider Lube Mobile, and digital solutions partner Webfleet. 

“It’s a practical demonstration of how Bridgestone will add value to our customers through solutions beyond tyres.”

The site also has a role to play in supporting Bridgestone’s mid-to-long term business strategy announced in 2020. That aims for a global company target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and realising its ‘Milestone 2030′ targets of a 50 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions.

The new site has a 4.5 green star rating under the Green Building Council of Australia’s framework, and uses energy-efficient LED lighting throughout the building, 50,000 litres of water storage from rainwater harvesting, and a 100kW solar array.

“Our vision of being a global leader in sustainable solutions starts at home with our own initiatives, and we’re continuing to implement steps to support our ongoing efforts in reducing our environmental impact,” Mr Roche said.

Bridgestone’s 25,000 square metre Truganina site comprises three key areas: a Bridgestone Select store; the Victorian warehouse and distribution centre; and the company’s state office.

The onsite company-owned and run Bridgestone Select store is a flagship store for Victoria and one of the key locations in Bridgestone’s network of commercial vehicle sites. 

It has tyre and mechanical servicing for passenger vehicles, SUVs and 4x4s and is designed around trucking customers and their needs, with four drive-through B-Double capable bays, a truck wheel alignment pit, and three dedicated truck wash bays – including the state-of-the-art automated truck wash.

The office space is designed to support Bridgestone’s growth and will serve as the epicentre for state staff servicing Bridgestone’s retail operations of Bridgestone Select and Bridgestone Service Centre stores, wholesale customers, key accounts, Lube Mobile and Webfleet Solutions.

Bridgestone has also significantly bolstered the capacity of its Victorian warehouse with a dedicated 19,250 square metre of storage – with an increase of 40 per cent compared to the former site translating to 50,000 more tyres in the new site. 

The company said that the site delivers improved customer service through process efficiencies and the use of automated guided vehicles and a telescopic conveyor. 

From the Truganina warehouse, Bridgestone services all of Victoria and parts of regional NSW as well as Tasmania through a satellite warehouse in Hobart.

This is Bridgestone’s second major site to open in 2021, with the Bridgestone Australia and New Zealand head office in Adelaide also relocating into bespoke premises at the start of the year.

By Neil Dowling