DHL eCommerce Solutions plans to invest $30M in its U.S.-based operations

Earlier this week, DHL eCommerce Solutions, a subsidiary of global logistics services provider, Deutsche Post DHL Group, announced a major United States-based investment plan.

The company said that it will invest roughly $30 million this year, in order to expand and modernize its United States operations. The key components of this investment include:

• purchasing its first fully-owned move-in-ready distribution center (DC) in the United States in Atanta and temporary distribution center space in Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; and Avenel, NJ;
• due to anticipated 2020 holiday peak volume increases (Nov.-Dec. 2020), automation equipment investments are also planned; and
• at the end of the third quarter and throughout the fourth quarter, the company is hiring 900 new distribution center workers to support its growth

The new 150,000 square-foot Atlanta-based facility is based 20 miles away from the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport and has access to some of the main thoroughfares for “speedy air and ground parcel transportation,” said DHL. And the company added that this DC will process domestic parcels and also have a sorting machine that can process 20,000-to-30,000 parcels per hour.

“It is an extremely proud moment for us to move to our first fully-owned U.S. building located in Atlanta,” said DHL eCommerce Solutions Americas CEO Lee Spratt, in a statement. “Our expansion plans have been in the works for some time, but with this year’s consistent surge in e-commerce volumes, we understood the urgency of finalizing our plans to have a permanent home in the Atlanta area and additional space in strategic metropolitan U.S. locations.”

A company spokesperson told LM that this new DC in Atlanta will help DHL eCommerce Solutions grow and have enough space for the next 10-15 years, allowing its customers to grow along with the company.

“As part of our investment plans, we will enhance our automation and incorporate a sorting machine that can process 20,000-30,000 parcels per hour,” she said. “This automation helps us process more of our customers’ parcels and quicker, allowing them to move their shipments faster to the consumer.” 

And she added that the current building in Atlanta, where DHL eCommerce Solutions has been operating since 2004, has seen steady growth for the last couple of years.

“As a result, we have been evaluating various options, including purchasing our own building,” she said. “In April 2020, we began looking at spaces and found the perfect location for us to buy. With the e-commerce holiday peak level volumes we have seen since early April, we wanted to ensure we have additional space in these major metropolitan cities to handle what we expect to be 30-50% more e-commerce volumes this holiday peak season compared to last season.”

When asked about the competitive advantages that this investment provides, the spokesperson explained that the e-commerce market is expected to grow, adding that the company’s expansion in key cities will allow it to process more volume and meet the demand of its Day Definite Max product, which is geared towards customers looking for a fast and predictable shipping option at a cost-effective price for items weighing 1-16 ounces.