England - London - Sainburys Waltham Point distribution depot

Seen from a high viewpoint, we overlook loading of roll cages at the Sainsbury's 700,000 sq ft (57,500sq m) supermarket warehouse and distribution depot at Waltham Point London England. This is the largest of 10 distribution centres using an automated ordering system for receiving food direct from suppliers by truck through 170 dock doors. Long-distance vehicles depart every two minutes, 24 hours a day, 364 days a year to 80 UK stores and handling 2.5m supermarket cases a week. The temperature is just above freezing point in a series of chill, ambient and frozen chambers. Real-time ordering means that stores can obtain requested stock within hours. Food orders are conveyed (at 2 meters a second) with sorter systems that group products together, ordering them to favour the layout of specific stores, optimising how the shelves are stacked. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)