HANOVER—ContiTech A.G. is planning to build a "cutting-edge" distribution center near the Hanover-Langenhagen airport by the end of 2018.
In a Dec. 20 statement, the Hanover-based company said it was investing more than $12 million in equipment and machinery for the project.
The joint, cross-divisional center will serve as a distribution point for drive belts and surface materials for the automotive industry across Europe.
Philip Nelles, head of ContiTech's Power Transmission Group, will oversee the new location. He noted that ContiTech's Vahrenwald production plant, located near Hanover, will be integrated with the new distribution center.
"Business with automotive manufacturers and the automotive replacement business is on a course for growth," Nelles said. "In the next few years, our infrastructure at the Vahrenwald plant will no longer suffice."
The project includes a building complex with a surface area of roughly 366,000 square feet and will include 20,000 spaces for pallets and a fully-automated small-parts warehouse.
With the new center, ContiTech expects working procedures to be more efficient and to save around 5,000 truck journeys per year.
The company is predicting a maximum of 70 arrivals to and departures from Langenhagen each 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 said.
The freed-up spaces, according to ContiTech, can be used for other purposes as the demand for industrial and automotive drive belts continues to grow. Additionally, demand on the company's infrastructure also has increased as a result of the acquisition of the Hornschuch Group.
The logistics for surface materials will initially start at the end of 2018 and for drive belts at the start of 2019. Until now, Continental has used an external service provider for the storage of its surface materials.