New, purpose-built Auckland gateway facility

DHL Express opens new, purpose-built Auckland gateway facility

• NZ$15.3 million (€9.9 million) investment driven by unprecedented customer demand in the New Zealand market

• The new facility will increase its sorting capacity by 192% and will be able to process almost double the shipments per hour

• 15 to 20 new jobs created

UNDER EMBARGO: Auckland, 0500 February 20, 2015 DHL Express, the world’s leading international express services provider, is undergoing an extensive renovation of its Auckland gateway facility to double the size of its processing capabilities.

Due to strong on-going demand for inbound freight, DHL Express has opted to increase its investment in the New Zealand market with a NZ$15.3 million (€9.9 million) upgrade, linking all of New Zealand to a network of 220 countries and territories globally, and allowing New Zealand importers and exporters to trade in the global marketplace more efficiently than ever before.

The upgrade means DHL Express will also take on an additional 15 to 20 staff in 2015.

The upgrade of the Auckland facility will include expanding DHL’s processing facility by almost double, increasing its sorting capacity by 192% to accommodate increased demand from around New Zealand. As DHL’s ‘gateway’ to the global network, the upgrade of the Auckland facility is integral to future proofing DHL Express NZ.

The upgraded facility includes a range of features aimed at ensuring DHL is well-equipped to accommodate expected increases into the future, including:

• An increase in warehouse space to approximately 5000m², increasing its sorting capacity by 192%.

• The new facility will enable DHL Express to process inbound and outbound freight almost twice as fast, moving from approximately 2,400 shipments per hour to 4,000. This is aided by an automated process featuring state of the art parcel handling equipment. The new process aims to reduce double handling, both maintaining the integrity of the shipment and increasing efficiency and throughput. Each parcel will only be touched twice during processing – once for unload and once for reload.

• Fifteen to 20 new staff will be hired.

DHL Express New Zealand Country Manager Tim Baxter says the facility is part of DHL’s long-term strategy to concentrate on the customer. “Back in 2009 we developed a five year plan which focused on investing in our network capabilities to offer our customers the best access to the global economy,” said Mr Baxter.

“As we are now experiencing unprecedented customer demand, this gateway facility is the logical next step in that investment. It will enable us to provide faster and more efficient processing of shipments, partly thanks to the state of the art automated process that we are implementing, meaning ultimately our customers will reap the rewards.”

Auckland Airport is the developer and owner of the land and DHL Express will lease the completed (and extended) facility from Auckland Airport. DHL Express NZ is aiming for the facility to be fully operational by Q4 2015.

Auckland gateway facility

Go live date: Q4 2015

New warehouse area: Approximately 5,000m²

Total investment: NZ$15.3 million (€9.9 million)

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