Toll IPEC opened a new freight hub called Larapinta in Brisbane, Australia to handle increasing domestic freight demands. The hub uses a Real-Time Distribution System from Dexion to coordinate its physical operations and sort over 9,000 packages per hour using a high-performance sliding shoe sorter. The system collects detailed package data to improve accountability and efficiency as customers demand more data and stringent tracking of shipments. The hub is designed to handle projected increases in Australia's population and freight needs through 2050 by creating additional sorting capacity and network efficiencies.

1. Toll IPEC.
Road freight hub of tomorrow.

3. “The nerve centre of the site is Dexion’s
Real-Time Distribution System (RDS),
a multifunction control platform that
coordinates the facility’s physical and
operational aspects.”
We might sometimes forget, but Australia new Greenfield DC at Larapinta in the bushy
is the only single nation to occupy an entire outskirts of Brisbane.
continent. There are less than three people
Escalating demand, in particular for its
for every square kilometre, yet we’re also one
national timetable of road express services,
of the most urbanised countries in the world.
had meant that Toll IPEC’s barely-ten-years
With a few densely populated cities -old Brisbane hub was already at capacity.
separated by long, lonely stretches, it’s no
The new plant at Larapinta is a key part of
surprise that Australia is the world’s most
Toll’s national strategy of creating capacity
intensive user of road freight on a tonne/
for growth without structural bottlenecks
kilometre basis. A whopping two-thirds of
or constraints at any point.
all domestic freight rolls up and down our
open roads. Dexion had worked with the Toll Group
It seems that Australia no longer rides on in the past and had a proven track record
the sheep’s back, but in the air-conditioned in the field. During a competitive tender
passenger seat of a B-Double. process, Toll IPEC was shown live Dexion-
designed solutions in Melbourne and
Our domestic freight task has more than Sydney to further support their bid and
doubled over the last 20 years, is expected demonstrate their success with system
to almost double again by 2020 and triple integration and project management
by 2050*. capabilities, Dexion was appointed to the
It is against this backdrop that Dexion was contract in April 2009.
invited by Toll IPEC, part of the Toll Group,
the Asian region’s leading provider of Larapinta snapshot.
integrated logistics services, to provide a Larapinta was officially opened, on schedule,
high-speed parcel sorting solution for their on 19 February 2010.
Dexion Case Study – Toll IPEC *IBISworld, 2009 report for Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

4. “The central challenge was to sort the different
kinds of freight when it came out of metropolitan
and regional vehicles and into the line hauls.
Reducing this sort time window is where the big
efficiencies were to be gleaned for this client.”
The five-hectare site includes: equipment and is specifically engineered
to complement rather than compete with
• 13,300m2 warehouse/depot
the customer’s host computer system.
• 31,000m2 concrete pavements
By controlling field devices, sensors, host
• 5,200m2 car park area connectivity and data driven rules, the
• atehouse, fuel, gas and
G RDS can deliver real time management of
weighbridge facilities all physical and logical processes.
• 2,400m2 of quality office space The user-friendly interface is boldly
graphical with the simplicity of point-and-
• Fully integrated CBUS electrical system click control. Being web based, the system
There are 14 dock levellers for rear end is accessible from anywhere at any time.
loading and unloading plus space to The RDS is also modular in design, a “To our mind, TGW’s Natrix sliding shoe very different dimensions into multiple
process a large number of side load trailers. concept that was attractive to Toll IPEC as sorter was the sort of high-performance discharge lanes.
In total, the site is designed to service the it helped make the most of capital they had solution this project needed.” said Dexion’s
Sort capacity is a rapid 9,000 cartons
equivalent of 60 B-Doubles per day. Murdo McKinnon.
already invested in. It also meant that they per hour.
only paid for the modules they needed, “The central challenge was to sort the
Real Time Distribution System (RDS). Parcels are conveyed on a sorter bed
with the flexibility to add further capability different kinds of freight when it came out
The nerve centre of the site is Dexion’s consisting of extruded aluminium profiles.
in the future as required. of metropolitan and regional vehicles and
Real-Time Distribution System (RDS), a Shoes slide across these profiles, diverting
into the line hauls. Reducing this sort time
products to pre-selected destinations.
multifunction control platform that High performance sortation. window is where the big efficiencies were
Gaps between parcels are optimised
coordinates the facility’s physical and to be gleaned for this client.”
In previous projects similar to Larapinta, through use of a special batching conveyor,
operational aspects.
Dexion had achieved good results with By combining Natrix sortation with an and then guided by means of rubber
Essentially, it bridges the gap between their Austrian material handling equipment integrated carousel system, Larapinta has coated running wheels that ensure a quiet
enterprise systems and materials handling partner, TGW. the capacity to gently handle goods with and low-wear operation.
Dexion Case Study – Toll IPEC

5. “At full capacity, Larapinta has the ability to
process two-and-a-half parcels a second.”
Better data, better accountability. system. By ‘reading’ information superior
The recent global financial crisis caused to a simple barcode scan, the RDS has
many companies to lower inventories and the capacity to better recognise and
in some cases eliminate private warehousing correctly assign irregular parcels, identify
altogether. This has put new and extra side-by-side parcels (which might be
demands on the road express business. ‘hidden’ to a laser scanner) to be resorted,
and ensure that every item has been
In 2011, Toll IPEC’s customers want more correctly priced.
stringent accountability by package and
more data collection for their own reporting. Towards 2050.
At full capacity, Larapinta has the ability to The name Larapinta comes from an
process two-and-a-half parcels a second. Aboriginal word meaning ‘flowing water’.
To ensure this speed is not at the expense In this southeast corner of Queensland,
of accuracy or revenue, the Dexion RDS is the fastest growing metropolitan region in
fed a complex combination of dimensioning, the country, these days it is economic
weight and photographic data of each and growth that is flowing south and west along
every parcel. the Ipswich Motorway.
Two systems from Scale Components, the The Federal Treasury estimates that
Parcelscan II dimensioning system and Australia’s population will have ballooned
Carrierweigh CW900 in-motion conveyer to 35 million by 2050, and the need to
scale, provide comprehensive height, drive efficiencies in the transport and
length, width and weight measurements. logistics supply chain is fast attaining
ambitious program of network upgrade It seems the road ahead for Toll IPEC and
critical national importance.
This information works hand-in-glove with rolls on. A near identical facility in WA, also Dexion will be more travelled, not less.
five-sided photographs taken of each Though the new Queensland hub has been designed in partnership with Dexion,
parcel by the Datalogic NVS9000 vision open barely twelve months, Toll IPEC’s officially opened on 7th February 2011.
Dexion Case Study – Toll IPEC