Pattison Food Group has completed a major automation project at its grocery distribution centre in Langley, B.C., aimed at increasing fulfillment capacity, improving operational efficiency and supporting future growth across Western Canada.
The company worked with supply chain automation provider Dematic to modernize operations at the 485,000-square-foot ambient grocery facility, which serves Pattison Food Group’s retail grocery banners. The project introduces automated systems designed to improve split-case order fulfillment, increase throughput and support scalable distribution operations.
The investment reflects Pattison Food Group’s efforts to adapt its warehouse operations to changing demand while reducing manual processes and increasing efficiency in moving products through its supply chain.
Pattison Food Group is a Jim Pattison business and Canada’s largest Western-based provider of food and health products. Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, it has been in business since 1915. Its largest and signature company is Save-On-Foods. It has 11 retail banners operating more than 300 food and drug retail locations.
“Dematic’s strength extends beyond automation to a deep understanding of the operational realities shaping modern grocery fulfillment,” said Mike Olson, senior vice-president of supply chain and wholesale at Pattison Food Group. “That expertise helped us build a scalable, intelligent operation that improves performance today while supporting the flexibility needed for future growth.”
Pattison Food Group said the automated facility supports its nine grocery banners, including Save-On-Foods, PriceSmart Foods and Quality Foods.
According to the companies, the project was designed to reduce manual handling, improve order accuracy and increase fulfillment flexibility.
The automation system includes software intended to improve warehouse orchestration, along with high-density storage technology featuring a Dematic RapidPick system and a nine-aisle Dematic Multishuttle system. The facility includes nearly 62,000 automated storage locations.
The operation also uses 16 goods-to-person workstations to support split-case and full-case fulfillment for approximately 11,000 grocery stock-keeping units.
Additional systems include integrated decanting, conveyor, sortation, tote-handling, buffering and sequencing technologies intended to increase throughput and fulfillment efficiency.
The companies said the facility also supports reusable tote-based operations and includes resident maintenance and lifecycle support services designed to maximize system uptime.
Dematic said the project reflects broader efforts by grocery operators to manage increasingly complex fulfillment requirements while maintaining the ability to expand operations over time.
“As grocery operations become more complex and consumer expectations continue to rise, success depends on fulfillment environments that are intelligent, adaptable and built to scale,” said Alexandre Guiard, senior vice-president of business solutions, Americas, at Dematic. “With decades of experience supporting grocery supply chains worldwide, our partnership with Pattison Food Group reflects a shared commitment to building intelligent fulfillment operations where software, automation and operational intelligence serve as the mind behind the machine – improving service levels, increasing operational confidence and supporting long-term growth.”
The Langley distribution centre serves as a key component of Pattison Food Group’s grocery supply chain network in Western Canada, with the new automation systems intended to support both current operations and future expansion.
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