Strengthening its efficient parcel network in Germany, DHL Group has opened a state-of-the-art mega parcel center in Bochum in the heart of the Ruhr region.
With a sorting capacity of up to 50,000 shipments per hour, making it one of the most efficient parcel centers in Europe, the Bochum facility, along with the Obertshausen parcel center near Frankfurt am Main, is the largest DHL parcel center in Germany and also one of the most efficient parcel centers in all of Europe. When it reaches its full capacity in 2020, the new location will create a total of around 600 jobs.
With currently more than 20,000 sorted items per hour, the Bochum parcel center is already providing major support for the fast and reliable processing of shipments in the Ruhr region in the run-up to the 2019 holiday period.
“With its high level of sorting performance and use of innovative technology, the Bochum parcel center is making a major contribution to… DHL’s German parcel network,” Tobias Meyer, corporate board member for DHL Group, said. “This will enable us to fulfill our service promise to our customers in the region even more reliably as shipment volumes continue to rise.
“At the same time, we are delighted to be able to create jobs subject to social security contributions and covered by collective agreements at a logistically advantageous location in the Ruhr region and thereby play our part in the development of the region,” Meyer noted.
In 2016, DHL Group acquired approximately 140,000 square meters of space at the former Opel site in Bochum-Laer. Construction of the parcel center began in fall 2017 and was completed on schedule within two years. The new parcel center building covers an area of 40,000 square meters.
In addition, extensive measures were taken to make sure the new location is as energy efficient as possible in line with DHL’s sustainability strategy. For example, the parcel center is supplied with electricity and heat by its own block-type thermal power station. This not only procures electricity or heat, but also feeds the heat generated in the block-type thermal power station into Bochum’s public utility network. A roof-mounted photovoltaic system is also planned.
Including the new location in Bochum, DHL operates a network of 36 parcel centers in Germany, in which a total of around 1.2 million items can be sorted during every hour of operation.