UPS breaks ground on $80m DC in Germany

The parcel giant’s package sorting and delivery center, located in Bielefeld, Germany and scheduled to be up and running by October 2017, will replace an existing facility in Herford, the company said in a statement.    UPS Inc. today broke ground on an $80 million package sorting and delivery center in Bielefeld, Eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the company said in a statement.
   Scheduled to be up and running by October 2017, the Bielefeld DC will replace an existing facility in Herford. The new site will feature an operating area of 15,000-square-meters and automated sorting systems capable of processing more than 22,500 packages per hour.
   The facility will have 65 bays for loading and unloading of containers and 115 parking spots for UPS delivery trucks. UPS said the center is part of a commitment to invest $2 billion in the company’s European infrastructure through 2019.
   “This groundbreaking affirms UPS’s commitment to companies of all sizes in the region and our trust in the German economy,” said Frank Sportolari, president of UPS Germany. “This investment secures strategic future development opportunities for UPS and our customers in Eastern North-Rhine Westphalia.”
   “This is an important investment in Bielefeld as a key location for business and logistics,” added Bielefeld Lord Mayor Pit Clausen. “We are happy that existing employment in the region will be preserved and that there is the prospect for creating new jobs.”
   “North Rhine-Westphalia is the number one logistics area in Germany,” said Michael Groschek, transport minister of North Rhine-Westphalia. “The fact that a company like UPS is investing millions in Bielefeld shows the attractiveness of our state for the logistics industry. It also indicates that this industry sector is an important growth engine for us.”