With an incredible growth of around 40% every year making it the country's biggest car importer, Hyundai knows all about success. And its parts warehouse in the Sydney suburb of Auburn knows the consequences of such success:
high demands on the available storage space.

When the warehouse opened in the late 1980's, it was assumed that certain areas would be adequate for years. Instead, only months later, space was at a premium.

"I don't think anyone expected Hyundai would grow so much. When we first started operating, we carried around 3,500 lines. Now it's around 25,000," says Chris Priestley, Parts Operations Manager.

Planning volume increase was virtually impossible and new storage modules were created on an ad hoc basis as the available space changed, so teamwork has been essential.

We had to use whatever space was available to accommodate such high growth," says Mr. Priestley.

The warehouse is divided into three units. Initially, one 2000m² unit was used and as it was filled to capacity, the second unit was taken bringing the floor space to 2,900m². Finally in 1994, the third unit was used with the total space now around 4,700m².

Naturally, the range of parts sizes and shapes is huge. From roof panels to mufflers to nuts and bolts, everything must be cleverly stored. Everything is kept in stacked pallets or a small parts picking system.

Hyundai's 21 parts warehouse staff pack and retrieve parts manually and one aisle alone can hold 3,000 lines.