DHL Supply Chain has broken ground on its development of a 161,500 sq ft multi user distribution centre at its European air freight hub in Leipzig, which will cost some 14 million euros.
The end-of-runway facility will integrate services from DHL Supply Chain and DHL Express, and will offer value added services such as repair and engineering services for electronics and medical devices, as well as spare parts logistics.
DHL is targeting life sciences, healthcare and technology sectors, that will benefit from the very late cut-off times on offer, as well as a cold store, compliance with pharmaceuticals standards, and added services.
The site is within three minutes of DHL’s central Europe mail hub in Leipzig. Its proximity to key European markets, as well as the direct access to DHL’s express network will offer a persuasive speed to market.
The facility is due to commence operations in May 2012, and will reach its final stage of expansion in 2014. It will create about 175 new jobs.
Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of DHL Supply Chain Central Europe said: “We’re shortening the supply chain big time… for example a broken laptop can be collected, and the service team at the warehouse will try to fix it and/or save the data and load it onto a new laptop.”