DHL announces Kansas City-area expansion

Global express delivery and logistics services provider DHL announced earlier this month that it has moved to a new location in Kansas City into a newly constructed state-of-the-art building, which is more than double the size of its previous location. The company invested $5 million into this new facility, noting that it increases its shipment capacity, enables faster equipment processing, and provides earlier delivery for its customers in the Kansas City area.

What’s more, DHL said that this facility is in close proximity to the Kansas City International Airport, in within the airport’s KCI Intermodal Business Center. It is comprised of 43,700 square-feet of warehousing and office space, as well as newly upgraded material handling equipment and also 46 positions for courier vehicles so they can load freight around the DHL conveyor system.

Other key benefits of this new location, according to DHL include:

• -the ability to process up to 3,550 pieces per hour, through the use of a cutting-edge conveyor sorting system that features dual-view X-ray package screening for safety and security, as well as image-capture technology and automated bar-code sorting functionality;
• -handling U.S. domestic as well as time-definite international shipments to and from the 220 countries and territories served by DHL; and
• -the facility is expected to accommodate the shipment growth projected over the next ten years, as reflected in its long-term lease through 2031

“DHL’s expansion in Kansas City is a direct reflection of our customers’ international shipment growth, as the Covid-19 pandemic has further driven digital transformation and significantly accelerated B2C and B2B E commerce,” said Nemer Abohasen, General Manager for the Midwest U.S. at DHL Express, in a statement. “This larger facility will allow us to not only improve efficiencies, but speed delivery services and enhance the safe working environment for our employees.”  

A DHL spokesman told LM that a major driver for DHL to relocate its Kansas City-based location was that DHL Express has experienced unprecedented B2C and B2B shipment volume growth over the past year.

“The new facility increases capacity to ensure we can continue to accommodate the needs of our customers while maintaining excellent service quality in this key market,” he said. “The planning has been in the works for nearly a year.”

In terms of the differences between this new location and its previous one, the DHL spokesman said that DHL provides the same international express service, coupled with more than doubling the size of its operation and featuring new state-of-the-art automation equipment.

“The new facility will help DHL maintain its position as a leading international express service provider in the Kansas City area,” he said.