UPS has opened an automated package sorting and delivery facility in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which facilitates cross-border trade while enhancing package delivery service for businesses small and large.
The 27,000m2 (290,000ft2) superhub is equipped with advanced technology that can sort up to 29,000 packages per hour, with the potential to expand to 40,000 per hour. The opening also highlights UPS’s Women Exporters Program, part of a wider project to add three million women exporters to the global economy.
“Superhubs like this one are game changers and drive our European transborder connectivity, especially in the tech corridor where Eindhoven sits, the fastest growing part of the country where speed and reliability count,” said Nando Cesarone, president, UPS International. “This tech-enabled facility provides fast and efficient connections to UPS’s smart global logistics network, which moves 3% of the world’s GDP every day.
“Worldwide, more than 80% of tech startups are global from day one – they’re micro-multinationals – because they leverage digital platforms for instant access to world markets. And our network is an engine for inclusive trade that enables growth from all parts of the economy, including women-owned businesses. Their businesses are, on average, more than 3.5 times more productive than those not exporting. There is a return on investment waiting for us all – women hold the potential to increase global annual GDP by US$28tn [£22tn] by 2025.”
Eindhoven is strategically located in a region whose key industries include high tech and healthcare. The facility is a transit hub for goods traveling through the region and helps ensure the fast and reliable flow of goods between Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.
“With the growing number of entrepreneurs in this part of the Netherlands looking to seize cross-border opportunities, automated superhubs like the one here in Eindhoven give them the quick access to Europe – and the world – that they demand,” said Stijn Steenbakkers, vice mayor of Eindhoven. “Dutch businesses, and especially the high-tech manufacturing companies in Brainport Eindhoven, are growing faster than the European average because they are good at finding markets for their products. And of course they need to get their products to their clients the best way possible. We are naturally proud to see further endorsement of Brainport Eindhoven as a growth region for the country and a strategic location for global trade. The smart logistics connections in this part of Europe are attractive to companies looking for the opportunities that a global network like UPS’s offers.”
The new €130m (US$148m) facility is a part of the company’s multiyear, US$2bn (£1.5bn) European investment plan, which aims to modernize and expand the UPS network across the continent.