Rapid connections to suppliers and customers
Logistics professionals use the opportunities for success in Saxony-Anhalt
With its central situation in Germany, its well-developed infrastructure and its access to well qualified employees, Saxony-Anhalt has succeeded in convincing several international investors from the logistics sector: eBay Enterprise, the Bertelsmann subsidiary arvato and the household discounters Mäc-Geiz have used these advantages for their success. In 2015, they invested in new buildings, extensions and conversions in the south of the federal state at the locations of Halle, Heideloh (Anhalt-Bitterfeld district) and Landsberg (Saale district).
“Our geographical location at a transport hub and in close proximity to one of the biggest providers of logistics and transport services has made it possible for us to offer our customers market leading cut-off times,” explains President of eBay Enterprise Tobias Hartmann. In 2015, eBay Enterprise opened its new logistics centre in the Starpark in Halle, initially employing 130 members of staff. With its proximity to the hubs of DHL, DPD, Hermes, UPS, GLS and TNT, and with access to over 70 freight forwarders and over 350 shipping and delivery options, the company believes its new location affords it the best possibility for pushing ahead with its rapidly growing international business activities.
“This will enable our clients to give their customers the best possible options in terms of delivery times and ones that fit with their daily business.” The goods can be delivered on the day they are ordered or on the following day. “The multi-million Euro investment in our new logistics centre in Halle has extended our global capacity to 27 fulfilment centres and six customer service centres across Europe and north America,” continues Hartmann. “The new facility in Halle has a goods warehouse with a surface area of 28,000 square metres and 220,000 storage racks, as well as a 12-metre-high bay warehouse with 7,000 storage positions. It has a capacity of 13.5 million units and a transport capacity of 5.4 million units. The distribution centre offers the latest fulfilment technologies, flexible processes and cost-efficient solutions that international brands and retailers currently demand in order to be successful in the hard fought E-commerce markets in Germany and Europe,” highlights Hartmann.
For eBay, another important argument in favour of the logistics region of Halle was the access to highly qualified and experienced employees, explains the Managing Director: “For us it is very important that we can hire hard working and experienced employees who work together with us on offering our customers the best possible service quality and reliability.”
The logistics location of the Bertelsmann subsidiary in Halle-Queis has 800 employees. At the distribution centre at Heideloh industry park near Großzöberitz which opened in 2015 after a set-up phase of just four months, more than 100 jobs have been created for warehouse workers, technicians and administrative experts – using the latest technology they are responsible for all of the E-commerce logistics and returns handling on behalf of the online shop of the Krefeld-based Fressnapf Group. They handle more than 5,000 packages for their customers each day.
The locations in Halle-Queis and Heideloh occupy a good strategic position on the axis between Western and Eastern Europe for the customers from fashion, beauty and the FMCG sector (fast moving consumer goods). “With the direct connections to the A9, the proximity to the international freight airport in Leipzig and the regional carrier hubs, we can link both locations to our international network for transport and returned goods,” says Niels Weithe, Managing Director for Consumer Products at arvato SCM Solutions, substantiating the choice of location. This guarantees rapid connections and cost efficiency with the suppliers and customers alike. The two locations in the Halle/Leipzig region are two of 65 logistics locations which the full-service provider of E-commerce services operates worldwide.
In Heideloh, the company brought new life to what was previously an empty Neckermann goods storage facility. “We completely reequipped the storage facility in the shortest of time in order to be able to fulfil our customers’ requirements,” explains arvato Director, Weithe. 23,000 square metres of logistics space with approx. 10,000 specialist shelf units and 15,000 pallet racks, 15 ramps for incoming goods and eight ramps for outgoing goods are available – with the option of extending with an additional hall. The flexible organisation of the work also enables peak periods of demand to be covered without any problems.
The heart of the discount retail firm Mäc-Geiz also beats in Landsberg. “We have experienced huge growth in recent years and want to drive our growth forwards in the next few years,” emphasizes Managing Director of Mäc-Geiz Hendrik Deml. “To be able to manage this project with the appropriate logistics, we had to extend our storage facility and use the existing know-how in the best possible way.” In Landsberg, the company extended its central warehouse in 2015 and hired 59 new employees. All in all, more than 200 men and women are employed at the site. Around 500 pallets are prepared every day and delivered to the 272 branches which are situated throughout Germany with the company’s own HGV fleet. In the next few years, the household discounter, which was established in Halle in 1993 and taken over by the Austrian MTH Retail Group in 2010, wants to invest in more in its network of branches. In 2016, for example, the company plans to open new locations in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Mecklenburg Western Pomerania. “The great location adjacent to the A9, the proximity to the A14, the motorway link in the immediate environment, and a strong infrastructure at Landsberg commercial and industrial park are also factors which have given us the confidence to further develop our location,” highlights Hendrik Deml.
Photo: eBay Enterprise