Build-to-Suit for an Automaker in Bruckberg, Germany

A major German automaker’s new parts warehouse will supply clients from all over the world with original parts and accessories from Bruckberg (Landshut district). About 400 guests from government, the community and participating companies attended an opening celebration during which the facility’s first replacement part was symbolically sent to a customer. Landshut district commissioner Peter Dreier said the new parts warehouse was a “great sign for the whole district and economic region of Landshut.”

The 144,000 square meter build-to-suit warehouse, filled with replacement parts, is now fully operational. “We are keeping the so-called ‘slow rotation,’ or comparatively speaking, rarely requested replacement and accessory parts here for [our brands],” explained the automaker's head of aftersales business management. “At the same time, we will be representing an enormous range of parts here.”

The more than 20 million of the manufacturer's automobiles and motorcycles on roads worldwide are built from about 300,000 different parts or item numbers. Almost one-third of these will be stored in the Bruckberg warehouse—from replacement parts for classic cars and rarely used parts for current models to small washers and massive parts, like engine hoods. Because there is always a client waiting for one of these rare replacement parts, over 90 percent of orders are urgent.

The build-to-suit warehouse in Bruckberg is an important component in restructuring the automaker’s central aftersales logistics to improve speed and efficiency. “We are convinced that we can offer our clients better service across the world by doing this and that we can supply them with necessary parts as quickly as possible from Lower Bavaria," the company's head of aftersales explained. 

The logistics facility in Bruckberg, comprising main and subsidiary warehouses plus a 5,500 square meter office building, stretches across an area the approximate size of 200 soccer fields. Thomas Karmann, managing director, Regional Head Northern Europe for Prologis, offered, “We are very pleased to now hand over a tailored logistics facility to [the company] after having already delivered properties in Great Britain and the USA.” With a comparatively short location-selection and construction window of April 2015 to March 2016, Karmann added, “We are very satisfied with the course of this project - not least thanks to the smooth cooperation of all the subsections and great support from Bruckberg’s community, as well as the town and district of Landshut, which made the property development possible in the first place by preparing the plot."

A European logistics provider is responsible for operations and warehouse management of the Bruckberg site on behalf of the automaker.  About 170 employees of the logistics company manage operations for incoming goods and inspection of replacement parts. The logistics company is also responsible for warehousing, including commissioning and packaging replacement parts, monitoring outgoing shipments and overseeing equipment, technology and IT in the warehouse buildings. On-site employees of the automaker support the logistics company.