Warehouse Automation

Most warehouses run out of space long before they run out of work. We design, build and support automated storage and handling that gets more out of the building you already have, across New Zealand and Australia.

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Racking and conveyor being installed for the Foodstuffs South Island automated warehouse, with scissor lifts and crew on site

The same building. A lot more in it.

You probably do not need another site. You need the height you are not using, and the aisles a forklift no longer has to fit down.

Two more things usually settle at the same time: the roles you cannot fill, and the lifting nobody should be doing by hand.

None of it stops at storage. Receiving, inventory counts, picking and order fulfilment all come off manual processes, which is usually where accuracy improves as much as speed.

Multinationals running multiple SKUs on complex lines, or a smaller operation scaling up. The engineering is the same either way.

The first fully automated cool store in the Southern Hemisphere

That was ours. Watch how we designed and delivered an automated warehouse for a frozen goods facility, from the racking and the shuttles through to the software that runs it.

Cold changes the engineering. Batteries lose capacity, condensation and frost go after anything with exposed contacts, and a great deal of equipment rated for a warehouse floor simply will not run at minus 25 degrees. Automating a freezer is a different problem from automating an ambient store, and the equipment has to be specified for it from the start rather than adapted later.

It is the clearest answer we can give to the question everybody asks first, which is whether this really works at scale in New Zealand.

Our Solutions

Storage, movement and the equipment that keeps both running. Tell us what the building has to do and we will tell you which of these it needs.

  • PHS 4-Way Shuttle running in racking at a Zespri kiwifruit store

    PHS 4-Way Shuttle

    Travels along and across the rack, up to 2 tonnes, with a cold store build rated to minus 25 degrees. Built with Globl.

    See the 4-Way Shuttle

  • Automated stacker crane working the aisle of an automated warehouse

    AS/RS Crane

    Stacker cranes running the aisles horizontally and vertically, storing and retrieving with extendable forks or a satellite for deep lane storage.

    See AS/RS cranes

  • PHS Autosatmover mother shuttle and on-board satellite

    PHS Autosatmover

    A mother shuttle running on tracks across the storage channels with an on-board satellite. Modular, and completely automatic once it is set.

    See the Autosatmover

  • PHS Rushmover shuttles running a modular pallet transport loop

    PHS Rushmover

    A fully automatic modular circuit for any pallet type. Shuttles run independently on a loop, picking up and delivering to multiple conveyor stations.

    See the Rushmover

  • Semi-automatic pallet storage using AUTOSAT shuttles

    Semi-Automatic Pallet Storage

    Automha AUTOSAT shuttles in deep lanes, sized to your pallets. Freezer and ambient. More pallets in the same footprint without going fully automatic.

    See semi-automatic storage

  • PHS-AMR-MY1500 autonomous mobile robot in PHS colours

    Autonomous Mobile Robots

    Free navigation with no track, wire or driver. Carries up to 1500 kg and reroutes itself around people and forklifts.

    See the AMR range

  • Automated guided vehicle

    Automated Guided Vehicles

    Nine driverless truck types built with Rocla, from a compact pallet truck to reach, straddle and very narrow aisle machines. Reels, bales, rolls and pallets each get a truck made for the load.

    See the AGV range

  • High capacity automatic pallet dispenser

    Pallet Dispensers

    The PHS120 holds 40 pallets and feeds up to 120 an hour, so order preparation never waits on someone fetching a stack.

    See pallet dispensers

  • PHS Innovate pallet shuttle car loaded with pallets on its floor-mounted track

    Pallet Shuttle Cars

    Pallet shuttle cars move loads fast, quietly and accurately along a floor-mounted track. No concrete cutting needed. Laser positioning, safety sensing and flexible controls keep your operation running smoothly.

    See shuttle cars

  • PHS Innovate pallet handling conveyor with chain drive

    Pallet Handling Conveyors

    Powered roller and chain conveyors linking the store to production, wrapping and dispatch. Fewer forklift movements on the floor means fewer collisions and better flow. Turntables, transfers and inspection stations, built by us.

    See pallet conveyors

Lights-out, hypoxic, and minus 25 degrees

PHS Innovate delivered the automated frozen distribution centre for Foodstuffs South Island in Hornby, Christchurch, with high-density pallet storage and SAP integration. If you are wondering whether this works at scale in New Zealand, it already does.

Read how we built it

Automation we have delivered for

  • Talley's
  • Cloudy Bay
  • Griffin's
Where we are members

New Zealand Cold Storage Association
ASCLA, the Australasian Supply Chain & Logistics Association
RWTA proud member
Supply Chain Partners Marketplace







Tell us what the building has to do

Pallet weight, store temperature, how many in and out a day, and what the site looks like now. We will come back with what fits, what it costs to get there, and whether automation is even the right answer yet.

Talk to our team See our case studies