TNT Super Hubs

As one of the world’s largest express delivery companies, TNT recognizes the fundamental importance of efficiency. On a daily basis, it delivers close to one million consignments, ranging from documents and parcels to palletized freight. The decision was made in 2014 to develop a network of three super hub facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. These hubs would implement advanced parcel sortation technology and facilitate TNTs increased focus on the requirements of small and medium businesses, brought about by the continuing rise in e-commerce and shift to lighter weight, higher volume consignments.

Linesight was engaged by TNT Australia to provide full cost management services across all three locations for a number of key reasons: 

• Interstate market knowledge
• Significant cost savings were achieved on submitted variations for the Sydney project, leading to our appointment for the further two phases in Brisbane and Melbourne
• Considerable expertise in utilizing and embracing the latest technological advances
• Knowledge of office fit-outs and other ancillary buildings that formed part of these projects
• Experience dealing with specialized equipment vendors 

A demanding program across three locations 

The three projects and key services supplied by Linesight were:  

TNT Sydney 

A fully automated 30,000 sq.m. sortation logistics and distribution facility, including the following ancillary buildings:  

• 400 sq.m. truck maintenance shed
• 250 sq.m. truck wash facility
• 225 sq.m. truck fueling facility
• 1,800 sq.m. office space and multi-storey car park 

Linesight provided full contract administration services including the preparation of progress claim valuations, agreement of variations and monitoring of overall project costs. 

TNT Melbourne  

A fully automated 37,425 sq.m. sortation logistics and distribution warehouse, including the following ancillary buildings: 

• Truck maintenance shed; truck wash facility
• Truck fueling facility & 3,124 sq.m. office space 

Linesight provided full cost management services including the agreement of variations and monitoring of overall project costs. 

TNT Brisbane 

A fully automated 27,775 sq.m. sortation logistics and distribution warehouse, including the following ancillary buildings: 

• 315 sq.m. truck maintenance shed
• 1,300 sq.m. office space 

As with Melbourne, Linesight provided full cost management services including the agreement of variations and monitoring of overall project costs. 

Securing maximum value 

The provision of in-depth sectoral knowledge and industry expertise was at the forefront of our offering to TNT. On each of the three super hubs, we were focused on ensuring that TNT achieved maximum value, without compromise to specification and project program. We were brought on board to ensure that the client was deriving value from the appointed contractors, particularly when there were variations to the original scope of works. We secured savings of 32% on submitted variations on the Sydney project. 

We found Linesight to be very professional, timely in their responses, extremely accurate in their assessments, and good advisors throughout all three of the super hub projects. It is clear to us that Linesight is an industry leader in cost consultancy and management and is well-respected by companies who engage their services.

- Curtis Berry, Director Networks and Infrastructure, TNT Australia
 

This was a fundamental aspect of our service offering for the client. Curtis Berry, Director of Networks and Infrastructure at TNT Australia stated, 'It is clear to us that Linesight is an industry leader in cost consultancy and management and is well respected by companies who engage their services. They greatly assisted TNT Australia in deriving the maximum value from the projects we worked on and we look forward to working with them again in the future'. 

State-of-the-art facilities  

As one of the largest and most respected express delivery providers, TNT embraces cutting edge technology to enable the provision of a world-class service to their customers. The ultramodern facilities, which utilize the latest technological advances and streamline key processes, enable TNT to process up to 25,000 parcels per hour and operate an advanced automatic sorting machine for small and medium sized consignments. 

Specialized experience 

Our experience in dealing with specialized equipment vendors was fundamental for the client. We were in a position to integrate the contractor’s requirements with those of the logistical equipment supplier, so that there was no gap in the project scope, and that the project could be delivered on time. In addition, we drew upon our experience in other sectors, such as commercial office fit-outs, for other ancillary buildings, which enabled us to benchmark and keep the project on budget. 

Linesight greatly assisted TNT Australia in deriving the maximum value from the projects we worked on and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

- Curtis Berry, Director Networks and Infrastructure, TNT Australia

Project specifics 

• All of the facilities are now open and fully operational
• The capability to process up to 25,000 parcels per hour, through the use of an advanced automatic sorting machine for small and medium sized consignments
• We secured cost savings of 32% on submitted variations on the initial Sydney element, which led to our appointment for the other two engagements
• This facilitated benchmarking Brisbane and Melbourne against Sydney, whereby we could take lessons learnt on that initial engagement and apply them going forward
• Program delivery on time and on budget, in what was a highly complex project

Outcomes: Ability to process up to 25,000 parcels per hour