Schenker invests 1 million euros in Mechelen

Replacement of 28 loading bays to ensure higher productivity. New, secure parking for trailers. Consignments and number of personnel up by 58% and 40% respectively

News Item Entered: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

(Antwerp, 20 June 2007) “Thanks to modernisation of one of our warehouses and internal reorganisation of our operations, our customers can count on higher productivity, around the clock,” says Caroline Reynaert, branch manager of Schenker in Mechelen. “Over the past two years the number of consignments has risen by 58%, and with this investment we can look to further growth.”

The activities in Mechelen fall into three main categories:
- incoming cross-dock activities for further distribution in Belgium;
- outgoing transit services to the Benelux, Austria, Scandinavia and eastern Europe;
- storage activities

This Schenker branch is also the centre for distribution of Nike products, mainly to Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Schenker has four warehouses on the Industrieterrein Noord site, with a total area of 26,950 square meters.

The one million euro investment includes the replacement of 28 loading bays by loading houses. This concept will make the loading and unloading operations more efficient, which will have an immediate impact on the turnaround of trucks in the warehouse. Loading houses also offer the advantage of expanding the operational work area and making the warehouse operations more streamlined, leading of higher productivity.

Schenker in Mechelen has experienced considerable growth in its road transport activities during the past few years, both for FTL and for LTL consignments. “We can now offer 38 departures per day to Benelux, Germany, Austria, Scandinavia and eastern Europe. In the near future we plan to extend our liner services to among others Denmark (Copenhagen), Romania and Bulgaria,” Caroline Reynaert adds.

The investment also includes construction of a secure parking area of about 300 square meters, so that in future all the trailers can be concentrated in one place. Finally, the offices are being refurbished.

“We now have 153 employees, 40% more than two years ago. We are urgently looking for another six warehouse employees and eleven clerical staff.”
The Belgian Schenker subsidiary Schenker N.V. is one of the country’s leading logistics service providers. Approximately 750 personnel are employed at seven locations, which offer the entire range of integrated logistics services, from land transport via air freight and ocean freight to contract logistics.