Purolator opens massive Toronto sorting facility
Purolator announced the opening of a new advanced sortation facility in Toronto on August 9.
Built by Pomerleau, the 443,000-square foot facility is the largest and most technologically advanced sortation facility in the delivery company’s network.
Strategically located near highways 401, 407, 427 and 27 in Toronto, the National Hub triples the capacity of Purolator’s former Ontario sortation facility and increases its network capabilities through new world-class automation and advanced scanning and sorting technology.
The building is twice as large as any other sortation facility in Purolator’s network, and provides a safe, first-class environment for 1,000 employees.
“Following the sharp rise in e-commerce and two years of unprecedented growth, the new state-of-the-art National Hub is opening at a crucial time,” said Purolator President and CEO John Ferguson. “Pivoting off our history of innovation, our investment in this infrastructure and new technology is a game-changer. It provides greater flexibility to quickly move goods across the country to enable businesses and services in all sectors of the economy to thrive.”
Purolator leveraged best-in-class international learnings from global benchmarking trips in the construction of its new National Hub, which broke ground in May 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic. When operating at full capacity, it will process up to 70,000 parcels per hour, tripling the capacity of the previous facility. The new hub also includes innovative technology that can unload a trailer in under 10 minutes or up to 12,000 parcels per hour – 10 times the amount possible through manual efforts.
The National Hub marks a shift away from a standardized sortation model to a more tailored approach that uses state-of-the-art technology to segment parcels by size, weight, and dimension.
“Innovation drives every business decision we make, and this is especially true as we work to modernize Purolator’s extensive network,” added Ferguson. “We can now increase our responsiveness and dramatically scale up or down to meet the need for industry-specific solutions and the demand for time-sensitive express shipments.”
In designing the National Hub, Purolator integrated global industry best practices and technology, increased safety features, such as guard rails and sensors, and installed ergonomic equipment to reduce the risk of physical injury. Amenities also include a dedicated multi-faith space, a 6,500 sq-ft cafeteria and patio, a much larger wellness room and a training centre that is double the size of the previous location.
Over the past two years, Purolator has seen an overall volume increase of almost 15 percent with a 40 percent increase in retail e-commerce volume.
This holiday season, Purolator anticipates it will again process over 1.5 million packages a day throughout its busiest week.