Otto Group, the parent company of Hermes, is further expanding its major logistics facility inHaldensleben, Germany, with an investment of a mid-sized double-digit million euro sum and creating
more than 350 jobs.The distribution centre run by Hermes Fulfilment, the e-commerce unit of the Hermes Group,currently picks and loads up to 300,000 parcels daily. This new expansion includes expansion of adistribution centre and installation of new picking and sorting systems. More than 3,000 staff arealready employed at the facility.
In Haldensleben, Hermes Fulfilment handles the e-commerce logistics activities of Otto Groupitself and numerous external customers. Otto Group is one of Germany’s largest e-retailers throughdiverse brands and subsidiaries.
The Haldensleben facility became operational in 1994 and has been expanded four times sincethen. With a floor space equalling 26 football fields, it is one of the largest logistics sites inEurope. In 2010, the largest automatic returns warehouse in the world started operations at thesite.
Dieter Urbanke, CEO of Hermes Fulfilment, said: “The expansion makes the distribution centre fitfor the logistics future in the booming e-commerce sector. Thanks to well-qualified staff, we areable to cope with the growing demand for efficient logistics and thus win new customers. With thecreation of more than 350 jobs, Hermes Fulfilment is further expanding its position as one of thelargest employers in Saxony-Anhalt.”
While the exact amount of the latest investment hasn’t been disclosed, the total investment inHaldensleben facility by Otto Group has risen with the fifth expansion stage to more than €500million, according to Hartmut Möllring, Minister for Economic Affairs in Saxony-Anhalt.
This latest investment project is reportedly being supported by the Saxony-Anhalt regionalgovernment with €10 million as part of the common initiative “Enhancement of the regional economicstructure”.
However, the ‘Hamburger Abendblatt’ newspaper reported that the continuous expansion stages inHaldensleben were also at the expense of other locations. “In 2009, the Group decided to completelyabandon the product distribution from Hamburg through relocation to Haldensleben. Apart from theHermes headquarters and several subsidiaries located in Hamburg, there is only one big returnscentre left in the city where mainly returns of fashion articles are handled,” the Hamburg-basednewspaper stated.
