• Parcel sorting centre features exceptionally sustainable energy generation
• In future up to 50,000 parcels per day will be sorted here
• The new depot replaces the facility in Kempten

25 January 2021 - It is just over a year since DPD Germany and Alois Müller Holding GmbH & Co. KG celebrated the symbolic start of construction of a "green" depot in Holzgünz near Memmingen in the Lower Allgäu region. The construction work went exactly according to schedule: last Saturday the new depot was officially put into operation. Initially about 28,000 parcels a day will travel across the sorting conveyors, rising to 50,000 parcels in the final stage. A special focus of the Holzgünz location is the question of sustainability: thanks to close cooperation with the local firm of Alois Müller Holding GmbH & Co. KG it proved possible to build a depot that can be operated in an especially cost-saving and energy-efficient manner.

 

An unloading hall, two loading halls and an office building with a total floor space of almost 10,000 m² have been erected on the 54,000 m² site in Holzgünz. The energy centre of the "green" DPD depot in Holzgünz went into operation as early as the end of December. The developer was the regional firm of Alois Müller Holding GmbH & Co. KG, which is also the landlord of the premises. During construction the parties involved placed special emphasis on resource-saving as well as energy-efficient solutions. The operational implementation of the construction project was carried out by LIST Bau Nordhorn, a long-standing partner to DPD.

The new DPD depot will be virtually energy self-sufficient. With the help of a photovoltaic system sized around 7,000 m² providing a total output of 750 kW the depot will produce its own electricity for the halls and the office building and distribute it as required via intelligent energy storage systems. In addition, the buildings are heated and cooled by resource-saving concrete core activation. Heating and cooling are provided from the nearby energy centre, where regenerative heat is generated from biomass, and carbon-neutral cooling from a well system. This has a positive effect on energy costs and CO2 emissions.

"For many years our company has stood for future-oriented thinking, the application of regenerative energies and, above all, sustainable operations. We are setting another example of this with the sustainable construction of the new DPD depot," states Andreas Müller, Managing Director of Alois Müller GmbH.

The flexible and extendable local heating network can also be used well beyond the supply of the DPD depot: other companies that settle in the business park on the A 96 can be connected up at any time.

With regard to the building materials those responsible also took care to plan as sustainably as possible. The roof structure, for example, is made of wood. Each cubic metre of glued laminated timber binds about one tonne of CO2 and consequently has a significantly better carbon footprint than alternative materials. In addition, wood provides a warm building atmosphere and ensures a more pleasant ambient climate thanks to its humidity-balancing properties.

"Sustainable parcel shipping is particularly important to DPD Germany. We make a clear promise to our parcel shippers and consignees to deliver every parcel in a carbon-neutral way. Accordingly, we are investing in sustainable infrastructure throughout Germany. The depot in Holzgünz with its particularly energy-efficient construction is a prime example of our commitment in this field," comments Thomas Ohnhaus, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of DPD Germany.

The depot is equipped with a leading-edge, high-performance parcel sorting system which is capable of sorting up to 10,000 parcels per hour. In the initial phase around 28,000 parcels will be sorted daily. In future the Holzgünz location will be able to process up to 50,000 parcels per day.

The new depot in Holzgünz replaces the previous location in Kempten. DPD had reached the limit of its capacity there and expansion was no longer possible. Expansion was, however, essential if the company was to keep pace with developments in the region: thanks to the high density of commercially successful companies, this part of southern Germany offers great potential in terms of business customers. The above-average per capita income also ensures strong growth in e-commerce parcels. Increasing its parcel distribution capacities is the only way in which DPD can ensure that it is equipped to meet the future demands of the parcels market.

"We have observed an exciting business structure with prospering local companies and now, as DPD, we have launched this new depot at exactly the right time," says Thomas Ohnhaus, adding: "The growing number of shipments during the Covid pandemic accelerated our development by about four years. This makes the location in Holzgünz all the more important for the region around Memmingen with its strong purchasing power."

In future more than 130 people will be employed at the Holzgünz parcel sorting centre. Many employees from the Kempten depot will transfer to the new location in the course of the move, but a significant proportion of the workforce at the new location will also be freshly recruited.

"When we celebrated the symbolic start of construction of the depot with a ground-breaking ceremony more than a year ago, it was not yet possible to foresee how the parcel market would develop in 2020. On the one hand, the Covid pandemic has placed high demands on reliable parcel delivery, and on the other it has given a further boost to the booming online trade. During the 2020 Christmas business we delivered more than 2.5 million parcels per day on particularly high-volume days. I'm therefore really pleased that we can now put into operation another state-of-the-art, high-performance parcel sorting centre in Holzgünz. Such investments are important when it comes to maintaining our market position. In strategic terms the location not far from the Swiss and Austrian borders is also extremely favourable," adds Thomas Ohnhaus.

An impressive film about the new depot in Holzgünz is available on YouTube for inclusion in reporting: https://youtu.be/WmIQ68c3Gjg

Facts and figures on the new DPD depot in Holzgünz

• Commissioning: 23 January 2021
• Site area: 53,700 m²
• Paved yard area: 25,700 m²
• Buildings: 10,000 m²
• Workforce:
  36 office staff
  100 personnel in parcel sorting/handling
  150 personnel in parcel delivery
• Daily parcel volume: 50,000 parcels per day in the final expansion (28,000 initially)
• Sorting capacity: 10,000 parcels per hour
• Delivery region: Friedrichshafen, Kaufbeuren, Kempten, Leutkirch im Allgäu, Lindau, Memmingen, Oberstdorf, Ravensburg

 

About DPD Germany

DPD Germany is part of DPDgroup, the largest international parcel delivery network in Europe. Throughout Germany DPD has 79 depots and 7,000 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. With a number of initiatives for sustainable parcel delivery DPD is demonstrating, particularly in city centres, how parcel shipping can be made environmentally friendly and emission-free at the local level.

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 46,000 local Pickup points worldwide, and delivers to 230 countries and territories across the globe. DPDgroup’s 77,000 delivery experts work together to deliver more than 5.3 million parcels each day. The sole shareholder in DPD is GeoPost, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste. GeoPost posted sales of €7.8 billion in the year 2019.

About Alois Müller

Since 1973 the Alois Müller Group has grown from a traditional family business to a medium-sized owner-managed company with around 600 employees at twelve locations. We are specialists in energy and building technology (heating, ventilation, sanitation, refrigeration, electrical) as well as industrial plant construction. In line with our company motto "Energy in focus", the priority in all projects is on innovative as well as energy-efficient solutions without restricting user comfort.