DHL Express has opened a new gateway terminal and office facilities in Finland to serve B2B trade and growing e-commerce volumes.
The new 4,000 sqm terminal in Pirkkala / Tampere, with handling capacity for 5,000 shipments per hour, serves the express pick-up and delivery operations in the local area and handles both export and import shipments for the whole of Northern Finland. The official inauguration was celebrated in the presence of customers and partners.
DHL Express invested €15 million in the new terminal, which includes green technologies to improve energy efficiency, such as geothermal heating, solar energy, a state-of-the-art building automation system and LED lighting.
Additional space and capacity were required to serve both business to business transportation and the rapidly growing private customer sector as e-commerce growth increases the number of small parcels, the company explained.
Due to the growing cross-border online shopping DHL Express Finland has considerably expanded its delivery options in the past few years. For example, instead of home delivery, customers can choose to pick up their parcels from a network of more than 600 parcel lockers and service points.
Door-to-door is the standard delivery option for DHL Express services, but more and more receivers prefer other flexible alternatives. With On Demand Delivery, online shippers can choose to activate specific delivery options and have DHL Express proactively notify their customers via SMS about a shipment’s progress. Customers can already at an early stage select the delivery option that best suits their requirements.
For international shipments, the company connects Finland to its worldwide network through daily flights between the European Hub at Leipzig and its Helsinki Gateway. It operates two other terminals in Finland, in Turku and now in Tampere / Pirkkala.
“As an international express logistics company, we provide a global network that makes rapid door-to-door access to overseas markets possible. This enables for example a Finnish retailer to offer a premium transport globally or to reach new cross-border markets directly, without investing resources in warehousing and distribution networks in the target country,” said Oktay Nuri, Managing Director, DHL Express (Finland) Oy.
Alberto Nobis, CEO DHL Express Europe, added: “Given the sustained growth of international e-commerce, DHL is committed to strengthening our global network and services.
“Over the years, we've invested significantly in our infrastructure all across Europe, to increase efficiencies and to improve delivery capabilities. Our hubs and gateways are the backbone of our global network which connects businesses from all industry verticals and private customers alike, and enables them to benefit from the ongoing e-commerce boom.”
