Deutsche Post DHL has today (June 15) officially launched its largest and most technologically advanced parcel sorting center in Germany.
The new facility covers approximately 400,000ft² of floor space and has the capacity to sort up to 50,000 parcels per hour. Located in the south Hessian town of Obertshausen, the center contains more than 6km (3.7 miles) of sorting and conveyor lines with 400 sorting terminal points.
The commissioning of DHL’s 34th parcel center in Germany sets another milestone for the company, which until now, has operated parcel centers with a sorting capacity between 30,000 and 40,000 shipments per hour. A total of 600 jobs have been created at the new location, both for the sorting of parcels and deliveries.
Jürgen Gerdes, board member for the Post – eCommerce – Parcel division at Deutsche Post DHL Group, said, “For this project, we took completely new paths and, for the first time, even assumed the role of producer for the installed sorting system. That gives us not only great innovation potential, but also allows us to constantly develop our own technical knowledge. With this, Obertshausen will set the standards for the future not only for us, but also for the sector.”
DHL also paid careful attention to energy consumption during the development of the new site. A state-of-the-art gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant was installed to heat the hall and to simultaneously generate electricity for the facility. On the roof surface, a photovoltaic system was built with an output of 650 kWp (kilowatt peak). By combining solar energy in the summer months with electric power generated by the CHP plant in the cooler months, DHL hopes that a large proportion of the required electricity can be produced throughout the year in an efficient and resource-saving way.
June 15, 2016