Parcel delivery and logistics provider UPS has broken ground on a new state-of-the-art package sorting and delivery center in the city of Bielefeld in Germany.
The US$80m project, which is scheduled to be operational by the end of October 2017, will replace the existing UPS package center in Herford, Germany. The center is part of UPS’s commitment to invest US$2bn in the company’s European infrastructure by 2019. All 330 Herford employees will have the opportunity to transfer to the new facility when it opens.
Frank Sportolari, president, UPS Germany, said, “This groundbreaking affirms UPS’s commitment to companies of all sizes in the region and our trust in the German economy. This investment secures strategic future development opportunities for UPS and our customers in Eastern North-Rhine Westphalia. Operations in Bielefeld are scheduled to start in October 2017 in order for us to be ready in time for the Christmas season.”
The Bielefeld facility will have an operating area of approximately 160,000ft² and will be equipped with automated sorting systems capable of processing more than 22,500 packages per hour. The facility will have 65 loading and unloading bays for containers and 115 parking positions for UPS delivery trucks.
Pit Clausen, lord mayor of Bielefeld, said, “This is an important investment in Bielefeld as a key location for business and logistics. We are happy that existing employment in the region will be preserved and that there is the prospect for creating new jobs.”
Michael Groschek, transport minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, said, “North Rhine-Westphalia is the number one logistics area in Germany. 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.”
UPS has been operating in Germany for 40 years and currently employs more than 18,000 people at 83 facilities across the country. In 1976, UPS made its first foray outside of North America into Germany, which was its entry point into the European market. Today, Germany is UPS’s largest market outside of the USA.
October 4, 2016