Volkswagen has chosen Imperial Logistics to operate a new packaging centre at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, following the Group’s decision to despatch parts for Volkswagen, Audi, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles via JadeWeserPort.
Parts will be despatched from JadeWeserPort to more than 25 locations in 15 countries including Mexico, China and the United States.
Thomas Zernechel, head of Volkswagen Group logistics, said: “The decision to locate the facility in Wilhelmshaven is of strategic importance for the Volkswagen Group. The JadeWeserPort is the only deep-water port in Germany. With this new packaging site we will create a direct link to a port which enables us to transport parts using the largest vessels in the world.”
The Packaging Centre will include four halls with a total area of more than 40,000 sq m. Around 7,000 different Audi, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles parts will be delivered in to the Wilhelmshaven facility, and will then be loaded into some 250 containers per week; this corresponds to more than 12,000 40ft high cube containers per year.
Construction of the facility in started in July and Imperial is due to take over operation in April 2019.
Remy Hoeffler, director of the automotive business unit at Imperial Logistics International said: “The contract complements our existing relationship with the Volkswagen Group at ten other locations in Germany, Poland, Hungary and South Africa, employing a combined workforce of 3,600. We look forward to this further new opportunity to support the global expansion of the Volkswagen Group with efficient logistics services.”