DHL Express presented its new Strategy 2025 at the official opening of its €123m (US$135m) state-of-the art logistics hub at Cologne-Bonn Airport last week.
Digitization, e-commerce and sustainability are at the core of the company’s strategy to further improve growth through quality. The strategy will also see DHL Express continue to invest more than €1bn (US$1.1bn) annually in technology and infrastructure.
The new Cologne-Bonn logistics center has been developed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. An ice energy storage system with over 1.3 million liters of holding capacity and 18km of piping ensures the hub stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter. This system, in combination with a heat pump and solar panels on the roof, makes this an entirely emission-free solution.
“Since its founding 50 years ago, DHL has time and again made its mark with innovative solutions and powered the rapid evolution of the express industry as a whole. The many new technologies at our Cologne hub are just one more example of this, and it shows the basis of our new Strategy 2025 as well,” explained John Pearson, CEO DHL Express.
DHL completed the upgrade of its air hub at Cologne-Bonn Airport in August 2019 following a two-year building and renovation phase. In the hub’s 15,000m² sorting center, with its 12,000m² warehouse and 3,000m² office space, several new technologies enable DHL Express to process up to 20,000 shipments per hour on its 2.5km-long conveyor belt. A number of other additions, including 3D scanners and vacuum lifters, help make life easier for the hub’s 340 employees, who come from 34 different countries.
