DB Schenker Logistics, the logistics division of Deutsche Bahn, is setting up a new logistics centre in Leipzig to supply components to automobile plants in China and South Africa. Schenker Deutschland AG will create around 600 new jobs in Leipzig to cope with this order from BMW plants, Exim News Service reported.

"We are fully aware of the enormous responsibility that this new order involves. It is one of the largest logistics projects we have ever acquired. Amongst other things, this success can be attributed to our strategy in the sector of contract logistics. We have already served as a reliable partner for the automotive industry and its suppliers in Germany and other countries for decades," explained Dr Karl-Friedrich Rausch, member of the DB Mobility Logistics AG Management Board for Transportation and Logistics. "This project will enable us to consolidate our leading position in this key market."

The logistics centre in the north of Leipzig will have an area of approximately 63,000 square metre and is scheduled to go into operation by the middle of the year. Working with an integrated data communication network, the centre will collect around 8,000 different components, which will then be packed and stowed in containers to match delivery requirements. The centre will also give the sheet metal parts protective treatment for ocean transport through different climate zones.

Roughly 50 containers will leave the Leipzig centre every day, most of them to be carried by ship to the South African city of Rosslyn and to Shenyang in China, although some will be transported by rail. BMW is currently building a new production plant in Shenyang and DB Schenker is already involved in the supply chain for that location. DB Schenker also handles BMW contracts in other countries, such as spare parts supplies in South Africa.