Every day at 6 a.m. in Holland, Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer comes alive as flowers and plants from all over the globe are flown in and out of what is dubbed the largest trading hall in the world.
By 10 a.m., most are on their way to be packed and shipped to destinations worldwide.
Business is big at Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer. Located a stone’s throw from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, more than 1,000 exporters and wholesalers meet there each day to bid on 20 million flowers and 2 million plants. Last year, about 24,000 transactions were made per day.
The business is enormous. Speed to market is imperative and quality handling is a top priority. The Dutch are masters at this. Their entire logistics sector is built upon these critical factors.
Likewise, California-based biotech concern Amgen requires that its biotech medicines be handled properly and with precision. Important to its business are Holland’s system of roadways, seaports and airports. That’s why Amgen selected the Dutch city of Breda for its European Logistics Center (ELC).
The ELC handles all value-added logistics functions for 120,000 shipments (or 20 million units) per year to some 50,000 customers in Europe.
Besides the logistics advantages of being positioned in Europe’s most populated and affluent region, Amgen’s ELC provides a central point for labeling, packaging and distribution of Neupogren® and products including SureClick™ pre-filled medicine pens.
In 2006, the ELC handled about 660 different packaging configurations. Given Europe’s varying country and language requirements, that translates to more than 2,000 different packs, inserts and labels.
“With requirements for so many different markets, you must be located close to market with your final packaging step,” said Pim van der Aar, director of business development for Amgen. “This allows you to react quickly to demand.”
Belgium’s Advantages
Belgium offers similar advantages. In addition to the Port of Antwerp, the seaports of Ghent, Zeebrugge and Oostende provide short-sea shipping options.
Then there’s Brussels International Airport and regional airports in Zaventem, Antwerp and Oostende, plus Belgium’s railway network, which is one of the most concentrated in the world. Rail there provides easy transport to every commercial and industrial center from Scandinavia to Turkey.
Flanders provides multimodal and logistics platforms, which enticed Nike to expand its European distribution center at Laakdal.
Nike is adding a new 36,000 square yard building at its site along the Albert Canal. It is scheduled to open in July.
Since 1994, Nike has doubled the size of the original Laakdal facility. From there, clothing and footwear are distributed to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Wallonia’s city of Liege offers logistics advantages given its location at the center of the Paris-Amsterdam-Frankfurt triangle. Its Liege Airport was one of Europe’s first airports to give full priority to cargo transportation.
Liege Trilogiport, being developed by Liege Port Authority on the banks of the Albert Canal, near the borders of Germany and the Netherlands, offers nearly 250 acres for development.
The SPI+ business park at Hauts-Sarts on the E313 Liege-Antwerp highway provides additional options. The park recently attracted contact lenses manufacturer CooperVision, which is investing more than $7 million to build a European distribution center that will open this year and employ about 100 employees.
“Liege was chosen because of its location, the ability to provide 24-hour delivery, the presence of strong logistics partners, a skilled logistics work force, and the availability of capital and employment grants,” said Michel Bosa, director of logistics for CooperVision.
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