Wehkamp is having its giant distrbution centre opened today by none other than King Willem-Alexander.
The e-tailer is receiving a high visit today as it is said to be the largest automated distribution centre in e-commerce. It has therefore cost more than 100 million euros. The building covers an area of 34,000 square metres and can store some four million products.
Short shipping time
Once online shoppers order a product from Wehkamp, it takes just half an hour for it to be ready to be shipped. By doing so, Wehkamp hopes to reduce shipping time considerably. If consumers order before two o'clock in the afternoon, they will receive their parcel the same day before 9.30 p.m. In the distribution centre, 468 trains run back and forth collecting orders with grab arms. They do so at a fast pace. The trains collect as many as 12,350 items per hour.
Pick locations
Yet it is not the largest distribution centre in terms of surface area. "The distribution centre has the highest number of 'locations' from which items are automatically picked up," a Wehkamp spokesperson told NRC. "We have 4,773,601 so-called pick locations. In this respect, we are the largest in the world of online retail." For example, one of the largest department stores in the UK is said to have a system with "only" 400,000 pick locations and Hermes operates with a system of 300,000 pick locations.
If Wehkamp does eventually want to become the biggest, it can always expand. In fact, next to the building is another 3 hectares of land, on which further expansion is possible.
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