UPS yesterday officially opened a new parcel sorting hub in Poland in its largest investment to date in the country.
The company has invested a total of $25 million in the hub at Strykow, near Lodz in central Poland, and in a Global Business Services centre in Lodz, which already opened in July.
The facility in Strykow functions as a parcel sorting centre and distribution hub for parcels of all sizes. With a total operating area of 14,250 sqm, it is equipped with sorting technology to process up to 15,000 packages per hour.
Located near Lodz, the third-largest city in Poland, Strykow was selected by UPS thanks to its central location with close proximity to many national business centres. In addition, the site provides good transport infrastructure improving the connectivity of the UPS network.
Various officials took part in the official opening yesterday, including the Polish economics minister and deputy prime minister Janusz Piechocinski, as well as representatives of UPS and property developer Panattoni Europe.
Panattoni said the facility was developed for UPS as a purpose-built build-to-own (BTO) investment and would be UPS’ first owned logistics centre in Poland.
Panattoni Europe’s managing director, Marek Dobrzycki, said the new UPS hub is a good example of a build-to-own (BTO) project in which a logistics facility is specifically custom-built for the investing company. "It is also an example of a build-to-suit (BTS) investment, this time executed to a special order from a leading courier company, that is UPS,” he added.
The facility also takes account of freight forwarding needs, including a cross-docking platform and an above-standard number of docks, 70 to be precise, as well as smaller gates for loading and unloading. As a result, the facility combines the functionalities of a reloading centre and a distribution depot for parcels of various sizes.
Strykow is one of the top locations in Poland for courier businesses due to its central location and proximity to Lodz and to major transport routes, according to the property group.
