PACCAR has made a multi-million investment in an expansion to its warehousing, manufacturing and parts distribution centre (PDC) in the Melbourne suburb of Bayswater.

The expansion project drew on ideas and innovation from PACCAR’s other PDCs around the world and represents the company’s ongoing commitment to keeping Australian trucks moving by further improving the time it takes for essential parts to reach dealers, PACCAR Parts general manager Mark Santschi said.  

PACCAR managing director Damian Smethurst (left) with PACCAR Damian Smethurst, vice president and general manager Bryan Sitko, operations support manager Bryan Hiew, Bayswater PDC manager Kylie Kurczewski, and general manager of PACCAR Parts Australia, Mark Santschi.

The original Bayswater PDC was built in 1985 and then extended in 1996 when it more than doubled in size. With this latest update, the PDC has increased by nearly 50 per cent again to 15,700 square metres.  

Input from other global PACCAR PDCs included the addition of a mezzanine level in the new facility, a spiral conveyor system, and battery-powered carts for ferrying parts. 

The mezzanine allows for some 13,000 smaller parts weighing up to 2kg to be stored above the warehouse floor, which has enabled adjustment to aisle widths and picking paths that  help make the site safer and more efficient, PDC manager Kylie Kurczewski said.  

PACCAR (PDC) in the Melbourne suburb of Bayswate

The new PDC is also more environmentally friendly, thanks to the fitment of rooftop solar panels and additional water storage tanks.  “The entire new section of the building has a 257kW rooftop solar system that captures energy from sunlight, there are also 16 water storage tanks in addition to the 12 we already had,” Mr Santschi said.  

“Once the solar panels are hooked into our building management system, they should cut our energy consumption by about a third.”  

The captured rain water services toilets and gardens, with excess water used in PACCAR’s adjacent truck manufacturing facility which has been building Kenworth trucks for Australia since 1971. 

“PACCAR remains committed to providing outstanding product availability and customer service across Australia,” Mr Santschi said.

“With more than 250,000 available truck parts and accessories, and using our highly efficient inventory management and innovative warehousing technologies, our new Bayswater PDC stocks every imaginable part to quickly service PACCAR’s extensive dealer network.”

PACCAR Australia is a subsidiary of PACCAR Inc, a Six Sigma company and global technology designer, manufacturer and customer support centre for high-quality light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks.  

PACCAR designs and manufactures Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF trucks and diesel engines,  

provides financial services and information technology, and distributes truck parts related to its  principal business.