The UK’s largest four-way pallet shuttle system, inside a 1.2 million square foot sustainable distribution center
Yusen Logistics’ Sustainable Distribution Centre in Northampton is a 1.19 million square foot shared-use warehouse facility holding 236,000 pallet positions, designed for full automation across the operation. Spacemaker’s QuadAxis Pro® four-way pallet shuttles will manage 89,000 of those positions — the largest four-way pallet robot system in the UK on completion.
The project was awarded to Spacemaker through Logistex, an independent warehouse automation specialist, following their strategic partnership announced earlier the same year. Logistex handles system design, WMS integration, and project delivery; Spacemaker provides the shuttle technology.
The site sits at SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton, immediately adjacent to Junction 15 of the M1 and the new Northampton Rail Freight Interchange. The location places approximately 90% of the UK population within four hours’ drive, with direct rail freight access for combined road-and-rail distribution.
The SDC operates as a shared facility, open to any Yusen Logistics customer across B2B, direct-to-consumer, omnichannel, e-fulfillment, and parcel management operations. Two main chambers divide the storage envelope: an ambient area held at constant room temperature, and a pharmaceutical chamber meeting strict regulatory standards for temperature, humidity, and security — compliant with MHRA and WHO requirements.
Hero image courtesy of Yusen Logistics (UK).
89,000 positions. Two environments. One automated platform.
At this scale, the value of shuttle automation compounds across every operational dimension. The QuadAxis Pro® system eliminates forklift traffic inside the racking across 89,000 pallet positions, delivering density gains that would otherwise require a larger building footprint.
The pharmaceutical chamber adds a layer of complexity that conventional storage cannot address — regulated temperature and humidity control, security requirements, and traceability obligations under MHRA and WHO standards. Automating pallet movement in this environment reduces human handling of sensitive products while maintaining the environmental consistency the regulators require.
The shared-use model means the automation serves multiple Yusen Logistics customers simultaneously, driving cost-per-pallet efficiency across mixed-tenant operations.
Project Photos
The Yusen Logistics Sustainable Distribution Centre is currently under construction. The following images document the facility build in progress; final installation imagery will be added on completion.
See the QuadAxis Pro® in action
A Northampton-specific project video will be published once the SDC is complete.
A shared-use facility serving pharma and ambient logistics at national scale.
Yusen Logistics needed a single facility capable of serving multiple customers across two fundamentally different storage environments. The ambient chamber handles general goods distribution at volume. The pharmaceutical chamber must comply with MHRA and WHO regulations for temperature, humidity, and chain-of-custody — requirements that rule out manual handling at the throughput levels the facility targets.
The facility also needed to support B2B and direct-to-consumer operations from the same footprint, with automation flexible enough to handle both fulfillment models without dedicated infrastructure for each.
Full automation. QuadAxis Pro® shuttles at the core, integrated by Logistex.
Spacemaker’s QuadAxis Pro® four-way shuttles operate across the racking in both chambers, moving at 2 m/second with 1,500 kg pallet capacity in all four directions. The shuttles run on rails within a purpose-designed racking system of travel lanes and cross-travel lanes, powered by on-board batteries that charge automatically via in-rack chargers.
Logistex designed the full system architecture and provides the Reflex WMS, which interfaces directly with the QuadAxis Pro® shuttles, AS/RS cranes, and AMR goods-to-person solution. The result is a single coordinated automation layer across the entire facility — no manual pallet handling inside the racking, and complete inventory visibility from receiving through dispatch.
Spacemaker is committed to helping businesses maximize space, increase efficiency, and future-proof their operations. Yusen Logistics’ Sustainable Distribution Centre is the type of project we are keen to be involved in, and an example of why we expanded to the UK.
System Specifications
Warehouse automation, intralogistics, and large-scale UK distribution
What is intralogistics and how does warehouse automation fit in?
Intralogistics is the European term for the movement, storage, and handling of goods inside a warehouse or distribution center. It covers the layer between inbound receipt and outbound dispatch — pallet movement, picking, sorting, and the software that coordinates them.
Warehouse automation sits at the center of intralogistics. Pallet shuttle systems automate the storage and retrieval layer; AS/RS handles vertical reach; AMRs cover the floor-level picking and goods-to-person tasks. The Yusen Logistics SDC combines all three under a single Logistex Reflex WMS.
What is high-density racking and how does it affect warehouse design?
High-density racking refers to storage configurations that hold more pallet positions per square foot than conventional selective racking. Examples include drive-in racking, push-back racking, and pallet shuttle systems on travel and cross-travel lanes.
Warehouse design decisions revolve around the trade-off between density and selectivity. Pallet shuttle systems push density further than any other approach because forklifts no longer need to travel inside the lanes — recovering floor area for productive storage rather than aisle circulation.
Can pallet shuttle automation operate in pharmaceutical warehouses?
Yes. Pallet shuttle systems are well-suited to pharmaceutical, life sciences, and other regulated environments where temperature, humidity, and chain-of-custody requirements rule out conventional manual handling. Automated pallet movement reduces human contact with stored products, supports continuous environmental monitoring, and provides full traceability of every pallet event.
At Northampton, the QuadAxis Pro® system operates in a pharmaceutical chamber compliant with MHRA and WHO standards alongside an ambient chamber on the same automated platform — the same shuttle technology serves both environments.
What is a shared-use automated warehouse and how does it work for 3PLs?
A shared-use automated warehouse is a multi-tenant facility where automation infrastructure serves several customers within a single coordinated operation. The Yusen Logistics Sustainable Distribution Centre is open to any Yusen customer across both B2B and direct-to-consumer fulfillment, with the automation layer handling each customer’s inventory under a single WMS umbrella.
The model drives cost-per-pallet efficiency by spreading the capital cost of automation across multiple users. For 3PLs, it transforms automated storage from a per-customer commitment into a shared platform capable of onboarding new customers without reconfiguring the physical infrastructure.
How are UK distribution centers using warehouse robotics at scale?
Large UK distribution centers are deploying warehouse robotics across three layers: shuttle-based pallet automation for high-density storage, AS/RS cranes for vertical retrieval, and autonomous mobile robots for piece picking and goods-to-person fulfillment. The Northampton SDC combines all three under a single coordinated software layer.
The Midlands corridor between Corby, Daventry, and Lutterworth has the UK’s highest concentration of distribution and cold storage investment, making it the natural home for the next generation of automated facilities. The Yusen SDC, located near Junction 15 of the M1, is one of the largest projects in that corridor.
How does warehouse automation address the UK labor shortage?
Tight labor markets and constrained warehouse hiring are driving UK distribution operators to automate the highest-volume, most repetitive elements of their workflows. Pallet movement inside the racking is one of those elements — the work is repetitive, physically demanding, and prone to fatigue-related error.
Pallet shuttle systems remove forklift drivers from inside the racking entirely, leaving the human workforce to focus on receiving, dispatch, and exception handling. The same automation reduces the impact of seasonal labor gaps, since shuttle throughput is independent of staffing variation.
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