Continental to build €10m distribution centre in Hanover

Hanover, Germany – ContiTech AG is building a “cutting-edge” distribution centre near the Hanover-Langenhagen airport by the end of 2018.

In a 20 Dec statement, the Hanover-based company said it was investing more than €10 million in equipment and machinery for the project.

The joint, cross-divisional centre is aimed for distribution of drive belts and surface materials for the automotive industry across Europe.

According to Ne Philip Nelles, head of the location and responsible for the Power Transmission Group business unit, ContiTech’s Vahrenwald production plant, near Hanover, will be integrated with the new distribution centre.

“Business with automotive manufacturers and the automotive replacement business is on a course for growth. In the next few years, our infrastructure at the Vahrenwald plant will no longer suffice,” Nelles added.

The project includes a building complex with a surface area of 34,000 square metres,  20,000 spaces for pallets and a fully-automated small-parts warehouse.

With the new centre, ContiTech expects working procedures to be more efficient and to save around 5,000 truck journeys per year.

The company is currently predicting a maximum of 70 arrivals at and departures from Langenhagen per day. Around 160 jobs will eventually be based at the new site.

“We currently store our drive belts on seven floors. The new distribution centre, which we will operate with our own employees, will provide everything on one level,” Nelles explained.

The freed-up spaces, according to ContiTech, can be used for other purposes, as the demand for industrial and automotive drive belts is growing.

Up to now, Continental has used an external service provider for the storage of its surface materials.

Additionally, demand on the company’s infrastructure has also increased as a result of the acquisition of the Hornschuch Group early last year.

The logistics for surface materials will initially start at the end of 2018 and for drive belts at the start of 2019.