Executives with West Chester, Pa.,-based QVC, the television and Internet shopping giant, knew what they were doing when they opened a distribution center (DC) in Huckelhoven, Germany, near Aachen in March 2003.
With a DC already located in the United Kingdom, QVC executives saw opportunities to serve Germany and eventually the entire European Union.
QVC Deutschland handles about 40,000 orders per day, most of which are for Germany-based customers.
To take orders, the company operates its call center from the Germans cities of Bochum and Kassel.
Scores of products move through the Huckelhoven facility, including garments on hangers mainly imported from Asia via the Port of Rotterdam, as well as household items, hardware and flat goods, and jewelry.
The location works well for QVC, given its proximity to Europe’s major seaports, roadways and airports.
Another plus is the ease by which the company is able to acquire qualified workers primarily because of a closed coal mine in the region.
That closing resulted in the area being designated special EU grant status for economic development.
The Netherlands remains the preferred distribution hub for U.S. companies serving the entire continent. More than 7,000 foreign companies distribute their goods from Holland.
Medtronics, a medical technology company, decided to open its largest and most integrated distribution center in Heerlen, the company’s second facility in the Netherlands.
Corporate executives cited the Netherlands’ central location in Europe, excellent infrastructure and the presence of a highly skilled work force as reasons for the selection.
From its 108,000 square foot DC, the company registers, stores and ships more than 30,000 medical devices and products daily to patients throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada and Latin America.
Careful Consideration Needed Before Moving
With the EU expansion in May, many logistics firms are looking for heightened activity from increasingly industrialized nations such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Some executives warn, however, that moving logistics operations eastward to take advantage of these markets is not necessarily a good solution. They believe that with many manufacturers locating there, wages may rise too fast, thereby creating more interest in moving facilities even further a field.
Rainer Koepke, an industrial real estate broker with Jones Lang LaSalle, said that the concentration of large central warehouses, which at present are situated in the Benelux region and Northeast France, could well migrate toward Central Germany where a well-developed network exists. Eastern Europe still lacks that type of network.
Daniel Trachsel, a real estate developer with Gazeley Properties Germany, said his firm has already decided to locate two of its three mega logistics parks in Kassel, Germany, for this very reason.
Certainly, if there is one aspect that Central and Eastern European logistics sites cannot compete on, it is nearby access to major seaports.
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