IGD's Depot Visits provide unique insights into innovative logistics operations to help further your understanding and benchmark your own operations.

Each Depot Visit shows how retailers, manufacturers and logistics service providers in the food & grocery industry are managing their warehouse operations. IGD provides photos and key statistics about each site, a layout plan where possible, and an overview of key working practices and points of difference.

Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Iceland all consolidate deliveries from frozen suppliers at Reed Boardall’s frozen operation in Boroughbridge near York. The site handles products from 220 suppliers which it groups into full load quantities for onward delivery into the retailers’ networks. IGD visited to see how this unique site operates.

IGD visited Birds Eye’s new Distribution Operation, which is centred around a new automated frozen highbay facility in Wisbech Cambridgeshire. It is shared with other manufacturers and owned and operated by the Dutch based 3pl Partner Logistics.

Asda’s import centre provides the retailer with an international logistics operation in the Northeast helping them save an estimated two million road miles per year. IGD visited Asda’s import centre at Teesport, near Middlesbrough to highlight how Portcentric logistics can be built into a warehouse operation and support a dynamic working environment.

Cadbury's Distribution Centre at Milton Keynes has been delivering a despatch accuracy of 99.98%. IGD visited this depot to understand how a leading manufacturer with a range of highly seasonal and temperature sensitive products is managing their distribution operation and driving continuous improvement.

IGD visited Unilever’s ambient distribution centre (DC) at Cannock (north of Birmingham) in the UK to gain insight into how a leading FMCG supplier is managing their distribution operation.

IGD visited Closed Loop in Dagenham, Essex to showcase how sustainable supply chain initiatives, such as a food-grade plastic recycling, can be built into a distribution network.

IGD visited The co-operative’s composite food warehouse at West Thurrock (East of London) in the UK to gain insight into how a leading convenience store operator is managing their in-house distribution operation from their first large-scale multi-temperature regional distribution centre.

Musgrave's Distribution Centre at Wellingborough is a key part of Musgrave's logistical operation in the UK since it serves all of the 186 Budgens fascia stores in the country. IGD visited the depot to understand its operations following the warehouse re-fit and the removal of the automated sorting.

IGD visited the Vroegop-Windig fresh produce warehouse at Bleiswijk in the Netherlands to gain insight into how a leading fresh produce importer, wholesaler and distributor is using a fully automated stock and order picking system for full track and trace capability.

IGD visited Euro Pool System’s depot and washing installation at Bleiswijk in the Netherlands to gain insight into how an automated system works for returnable, plastic trays.

IGD visited the Waitrose composite food warehouse at Aylesford, Kent in the UK to gain insight into how a leading supermarket retailer is managing their in-house distribution operation.

The Northampton Distribution Centre is a new Composite Regional Distribution Centre with strong environmental credientials and forms part of the Sainsbury’s Logistics strategy for supporting the “Making Sainsbury’s Great Again" programme.

The DIRFT facility is managed by The Malcolm Group. The rail terminals at Daventry (Crick) and Grangemouth in Scotland aim to provide strategic access to the nationwide freight network and efficient interchanges with road transport links.

Daventry 1 is a National Distribution Centre for Tesco clothing and home textiles, and also uses the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT) to move deliveries up to the Tesco distribution centre at Livingston in Scotland via the Grangemouth Rail Terminal near Glasgow.

The ASC at Lutterworth is one of eight reverse logistics centres in the ASDA network. The Lutterworth hub also houses the national returns centre for electrical goods and some non-electrical lines. As such, this site is a flagship depot in the ASC network.