Warehousing & distribution

Warehousing and Distribution Australia — Devanning, Storage, Pick and Pack

Your container does not have to go straight to your premises, and often it should not. Warehousing turns one large arrival into a controlled flow of stock you can actually handle.

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In short

Warehousing sits between clearance and delivery: bonded or general storage, container devanning, unpacking, pick and pack, and Australia-wide distribution. Used well it defers duty, smooths stock flow and prevents demurrage. We manage it as one component of your international logistics management program.

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Storage and handling

Warehousing services we coordinate

Importers usually discover warehousing at the moment a 40ft high cube arrives and there is nowhere to put it. Building it into the plan in advance is cheaper, calmer and often unlocks better freight decisions — because once you have somewhere to receive stock, you can ship in full containers rather than expensive small consignments.

Container devanning and unpack at a depot or warehouse, with cargo checked, counted and palletised.
Short and long-term storage, racked or floor stacked, priced per pallet or per square metre.
Pick, pack and dispatch for online and wholesale orders, including carton and label requirements.
Cross-docking, where cargo is received, re-sorted and dispatched without going into storage.
Re-work and re-labelling — barcodes, country of origin labels, retailer-specific packaging and compliance labelling.
Quality inspection and counting on arrival, so a short shipment is identified while a claim is still possible.
Bonded storage, where goods are held under customs control and duty and GST are deferred until the goods enter home consumption.
Distribution to retailers, distribution centres or end customers Australia-wide.

Why it pays

Four ways warehousing improves your freight economics

Situation	Without warehousing	With warehousing
Container arrives and you have no space	Pay detention and demurrage, or scramble for a truck and a storage unit	Devanned to schedule, stock stored and released as you need it
You want to buy in full containers but cannot hold the stock	Ship LCL repeatedly at a higher cost per cubic metre	Ship FCL and draw down from storage
Retailer requires specific labelling or packaging	Re-work on your own floor, under time pressure	Re-worked at the warehouse before dispatch
Cash flow is tight at import	Pay duty and GST on the full shipment on arrival	Consider bonded storage so duty and GST are deferred until goods are released

Bonded warehousing in particular is under-used by mid-sized importers. If you are landing high-duty goods and selling them over several months, deferring duty until release can free meaningful working capital. Talk to us about whether your goods and volumes justify it.

Before you commit

What to tell us so we can size the space

Number of pallets or cubic metres you expect to hold at peak, not average.
Whether stock can be racked, or must be floor stacked because of weight or shape.
Expected dwell time — days, weeks or months.
Inbound frequency: how many containers per month or quarter.
Outbound profile: full pallets to a distribution centre, or hundreds of small parcels.
Any special conditions — temperature, security, dangerous goods, food-grade.
Systems requirements: whether you need stock visibility, integrations or reporting.

FAQ

Warehousing questions

How is warehousing priced?

Usually a combination of an inbound handling charge, a storage rate per pallet or square metre per week, and an outbound pick and dispatch charge. The mix matters: fast-moving stock is dominated by handling charges, while slow-moving stock is dominated by storage.

What is bonded warehousing?

A licensed warehouse where imported goods are stored under customs control before duty and GST are paid. Duty and GST become payable when the goods are entered for home consumption, which can significantly improve cash flow if goods are sold over an extended period.

Can you unpack a container and deliver it in stages?

Yes. Devanning to a warehouse and then delivering in staged loads is often the best answer when your own site has limited receiving capacity.

Do you handle e-commerce fulfilment?

We coordinate pick, pack and dispatch including carton labelling and carrier handover. Tell us your order volumes and channels and we will scope it.

Can goods be inspected and counted on arrival?

Yes, and we recommend it for new suppliers. Identifying a short shipment or damage at devanning is what makes a claim or a supplier credit realistic.

Do you offer storage in more than one state?

We arrange warehousing near the main container ports. Where you sell nationally, splitting stock across two locations can cut domestic freight costs substantially — we will model it with you.

Warehouse options

Bonded, general and transit storage — choosing the right one

Storage is not one product. Where your goods sit, and under whose customs status, changes your duty timing, your GST timing and how quickly you can react to an order.

Type	Customs status	Best used when
Transit or short-term storage	Cleared goods awaiting delivery	Site cannot receive a full container, or delivery is scheduled later
General warehousing	Cleared goods held as your inventory	You need buffer stock close to your customers
Licensed bonded warehouse	Goods held under customs control, duty and GST deferred until entered for home consumption	Duty is significant, the sell-through is uncertain, or the goods may be re-exported
Container unpack and cross-dock	Cleared, in transit	Container contents are destined for several delivery addresses

Why bonded storage is a cash-flow decision

In a licensed bonded facility, duty and GST are not payable until the goods leave for the Australian market. If you import a full container but sell it over six months, that timing difference is working capital you keep. If some of it is re-exported, the duty may never be payable at all. We will tell you when the saving justifies the handling cost and when it does not.

Unpack and distribute instead of delivering the container

Many importers do not need a container at their door. They need pallets, on a day that suits them, possibly to more than one address. Unpacking at a depot removes site congestion, removes waiting-time charges and stops the detention clock earlier. See door-to-door freight.

Storage after free time

Wharf storage and container detention are among the most expensive forms of warehousing in Australia, and they are charged by the day. Moving cargo into proper storage early is almost always cheaper than leaving it where the clock is running. See demurrage and detention explained.

Inventory control

Inventory visibility, reporting and order fulfilment

A warehouse that cannot tell you what is in it is a liability. The control layer matters more than the square metres.

Receipt and reconciliation

Every unpack is reconciled against the packing list and the commercial invoice, with discrepancies photographed and reported the same day. That is what protects a claim against your supplier or the carrier, and it has to happen at unpack, not at the point you notice a shortage weeks later.

Stock reporting you can act on

You get stock on hand, movements and ageing in a format you can reconcile against your own system, not a screenshot. Where stock is ageing badly it is flagged, because slow stock in a warehouse is usually a purchasing decision that needs revisiting.

Pick, pack and dispatch

Orders can be picked and dispatched to your customers directly, with documentation in your name. For importers selling into multiple states, holding stock centrally and dispatching locally is often cheaper and faster than shipping every order from origin.

Condition, security and handling

Goods are stored racked or on the floor as their weight and configuration require, in secure facilities, with handling equipment appropriate to the product. Where goods are temperature-sensitive, hazardous or high-value, tell us at planning stage so the facility is matched to the risk.

Where warehousing fits your logistics program

Storage is rarely a standalone need. It is usually a symptom of a routing or ordering decision that could be improved. We look at the whole picture through our supply chain solutions and international logistics management services, then use warehousing where it genuinely earns its cost.

Need somewhere for the container to go?

Tell us your volumes and dwell time and we will scope storage, handling and distribution alongside your freight.