Mercedes-Benz is ready to open its International Consolidation Centre in Germany, which will bundle and preassemble parts for distribution to its global production locations.
Industrial property developer Panattoni officially handed over the International Consolidation Centre (ICC) in Bischweier, Germany to Mercedes-Benz in a ceremony held on May 22. With a footprint of 130,000 sq.m, the logistics facility will be the central consolidation point for the supply of parts to the carmaker’s international production network. Representatives of Seifert Logistics, which will manage the facility, were also at the official opening ceremony.
Seifert Logistics will receive components from the Mercedes-Benz supplier network at the ICC. The parts consolidated there will be supplied from south and west Europe. A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz said that the company expected around 440 inbound and outbound trucks a day when the facility is in full operation. The inbound parts delivered will be bundled, pre-assembled and prepared for outbound supply to the carmaker’s global production locations.
The ICC will employ 500 people.
“The opening of the International Consolidation Centre in Bischweier is a crucial step towards an even more efficient supply of our global production network,” said Elke Pusskeiler, vice-president supply chain management at Mercedes-Benz. “By consolidating material flow, we reduce regional and interregional transport and strengthen the robustness of our supply chain.”
Sustainable structure
As previously reported, work began on the facility in April last year. The ICC is built on a brownfield site where the former Kronospan chipboard factory was located and 250,000 tons of demolition materials from that factory were recycled and reused for the new ICC, according to property developer Panattoni.
The ICC will also draw power from 80,000 sq. m of photovoltaics panels on the roof of the building and use heat pumps for energy.
Panattoni and Mercedes-Benz are having the ICC certified in accordance with the criteria set forth by the German Association for Sustainable Construction (DGNB) and is aiming to obtain the DGNB platinum certificate.
“We turned a brownfield industrial site that had gone unused for years into a modern logistics site for Mercedes-Benz AG with excellent cooperation and planning with the economic and political actors,” said Fred-Markus Bohne, Managing Partner Panattoni Germany and Austria.
In terms of sustainable transport, Mercedes-Benz is collaborating with its transport providers on the use of etrucks for parts shipments to and from the ICC, as it is with the nearby Rastatt assembly plant. The etrucks that bring parts into the centre will be able to recharge as they unload. “On-site, there is a charging facility available for drivers of electric trucks,” said the spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz. “Specifically, there are three charging stations with a total of ten charging points that can be used.”
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