Growing parcel volumes: DPD invests 45 million euros in a new parcel sorting centre in Augsburg

• A major hub in the south of Germany

• The new Augsburg location will come on stream early in 2020

• Initially 36,000 parcels a day, rising to 93,000 in the final stage of Expansion 

Aschaffenburg, 30 October 2018 – With LIST Bau Bielefeld as the general contractor, international parcel and express service provider DPD has begun construction work on a new parcel sorting centre in Augsburg. The new depot will replace the existing DPD facility in the town early in 2020. The parcel service is investing €45 million in the new development, which will cover an area of 53,500 m². In the long term the new depot will relieve the pressure on DPD's existing parcel sorting centres in Neufahrn and Nuremberg.

"I'm delighted that we will soon be able to start up here in Augsburg with massively expanded capacities"

Thomas Ohnhaus, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at DPD Germany.

"I'm delighted that we will soon be able to start up here in Augsburg with massively expanded capacities," explains Thomas Ohnhaus, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at DPD Germany. "E-commerce is booming and bringing with it massive growth in parcel volumes. As an important hub in the south of Germany, the new facility will relieve the strain on the surrounding depots and at the same time lay the groundwork for coping with future increases in parcel quantities in the long term."

The new building in Augsburg will initially serve the same delivery area as the previous Augsburg depot. In addition, the newly created capacities will relieve the pressure on the parcel sorting centres in Neufahrn in the east and Nuremberg in the north. In the initial phase, around 36,000 parcels are to be handled daily in Augsburg, rising to 93,000 in the final stage of development. In the final phase 380 workers will be deployed at the depot, 200 of them delivery personnel.

Thanks to various measures the new depot in Augsburg will be particularly energy-efficient: energy-saving LEDs will be used for lighting both indoors and outdoors. In addition, the electrical supply is designed in such a way that facilities for electric vehicles can easily be retrofitted later. DPD's environmental and energy management system is certified in accordance with DIN 14001 and DIN 50001, and DPD Germany has also committed itself to fully carbon-neutral parcel shipping.

The sustained growth in online retailing has led to a significant increase in parcel volumes. In order to be able to manage these operations in the long term, DPD is increasingly investing in the construction of further parcel sorting centres. New DPD depots are currently being built in Kiel and Hamm, and only last year DPD opened two new parcel sorting centres in Steinen and Nagold.

DPD in Augsburg: facts and figures

• Start of construction: October 2018

• Operational start-up: early 2020

• Total investment: €45 million

• Site area: 53,500 m²

• Built-up / paved area: 12,000 m²

• Employees: 40 office staff, 140 parcel handling/sorting staff,  200 delivery personnel

• Parcel volumes: 93,000 per day in the final stage (initially 36,000)
  

About DPD

DPD Germany is part of DPDgroup, the second-largest international parcel delivery network in Europe. Throughout Germany DPD has 78 depots and 6,000 Pickup parcelshops. A workforce of 9,500 and 11,000 delivery drivers are in daily operation on behalf of the company’s customers. Every year the No. 2 on the German parcels market ships around 375 million parcels – providing carbon-neutral transport operations at no additional cost to the customer.

Through innovative technology, local knowledge and dedicated customer care, DPD provides the best possible experience for both shippers and shoppers. DPD’s industry-leading Predict service is setting a new standard for keeping customers closely in touch with their delivery, with real time tracking of their delivery, a one-hour delivery window and a range of options for redirecting parcels. In recognition of this innovation DPD Germany received several awards like the Digital Transformation Award or the UX Design Award.

As part of DPDgroup, DPD Germany has access to over 32,000 local Pickup points across Europe, and delivers to 230 countries worldwide. DPDgroup’s 38,000 people work together to deliver more than 4.8 million parcels each day. The sole shareholder in DPD is GeoPost, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste. GeoPost posted sales of €6.8 billion in the year 2017.