UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced the ground breaking of a new €160million advanced-technology super hub in Hannover-Langenhagen at aceremony attended by Dr. Bernd Althusmann, Lower Saxony Ministerfor Economic Affairs. Once completed, the hub – one of UPS’slargest investments outside the United States – will serve as animportant link in UPS’s European and German network and offerbusinesses improved access to the company’s smart global logisticsnetwork.
“The growth of business and retail e-commerce – with onlineretail sales alone expected to reach nearly €70 billion in Germanythis year – has created unprecedented demand for UPS’s services,”said Frank Sportolari, president, UPS Germany. “E-commerce offerssmall and medium-sized businesses a platform to trade likemicro-multinationals. Transforming our existing sorting anddistribution hub in Hannover-Langenhagen will allow businesses ofall sizes in Germany to reach new business customers and consumersworldwide, whether that’s in Seoul, San Francisco orStuttgart.”
To support the Hannover-Langenhagen super hub’s role in UPS’snetwork, up to 500 new jobs will be created, both in operations andadministrative functions. Advanced automation technology will allowUPS to double the sorting capacity of the facility – from 15,000packages per hour to 30,000, with a separate processing flow beinginstalled for bulky items.
“Logistics is one of the most important economic sectors andlargest employers in Lower Saxony,” said Dr. Bernd Althusmann,Lower Saxony’s minister for Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport andDigitalization. “Langenhagen and Hannover are located in the middleof Germany and in the heart of Europe – a potential from which thelogistics sector can profit like hardly any other location. Theexpansion of this UPS branch is thus a commitment to the businesslocation of the Hannover region and at the same time a door openerfor the export activities of local companies.”
The new hub will cover an area of 24,000 square meters –equivalent to three soccer fields – once the second phase ofconstruction is completed in 2023. Phase one of construction willinvolve a new building being erected alongside the existingfacility, to be completed by the summer of 2021. Phase two willinvolve demolition of the existing sorting and distribution centreand the construction of a second building.
Supporting UPS to meet its global sustainability goals, the hubwill be built to the German Sustainable Building Council’s (DGNB)Gold standard and will include the provisions to support futuredelivery fleet electrification. And to ensure that sustainabilitydoes not stop at the power socket, UPS in Germany is sourcing itselectricity – for its facilities and electric delivery vehicles –exclusively from renewable sources.
The new facility is part of the company’s multi-year Europeaninvestment plan, aimed at modernizing and expanding the UPS networkacross the continent. Investments in Germany as part of thisprogram include new and upgraded hubs in Bielefeld, Herne andNuremburg, complementing recent European super hubs in London,Paris and Eindhoven.