Published on: May 15, 2025 / update from: May 15, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
Capacity expansion in the logistics sector: growth through e-commerce and new mobility requirements-Image: Xpert.digital
Strategic expansion: How companies react to market requirements
New logistics centers: E-commerce is driving capacity extensions
The logistics sector is currently experiencing a phase of significant capacity extensions in Germany and Switzerland. Well -known companies such as you invest Truck & Bus, Amazon and Swiss retail giant Migros in new or expanded logistics centers. These expansions are primarily driven by the continued growth in e-commerce and increasing demand for components for new technologies such as electromobility. The developments clearly show that companies strategically expand their logistics infrastructure in order to be prepared for future market requirements.
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One is expanded to expand the logistics center for zero-emission technologies
You have officially started the expansion of its global logistics center in Salzgitter in order to be able to react to the growing business with electrically powered vehicles. The new building comprises impressive 53,000 square meters - an area comparable to seven soccer fields. With this expansion, the logistics center grows by almost a third to a total of around 235,000 square meters.
"The logistics center ensures the quick and reliable care of our customers all over the world. In the future, we will also send parts and spare parts for our electric vehicles-including batteries and batteries. This is also strengthened in Lower Saxony and the Salzgitter location," explained Michael Kobriger, Management Board of Production & Logistics at Man Truck & Bus.
The expansion is specially tailored to the requirements of zero-emission technologies. It is expected that up to 12,000 specific e-mobility components such as batteries and other components will have to be kept in Salzgitter in the coming years. This underlines strategic change in the commercial vehicle sector towards electrical drives. More than 2,000 fully electric buses are already in use worldwide and are planning to drive around 50 percent of all newly delivered vehicles electrically by 2030.
The construction should be completed by the end of this year and the operating start is planned for mid -2025. In the extended logistics center, a total of over 220,000 different parts are stored, which can quickly be delivered to customers and workshops in 120 countries worldwide.
Amazon is planning a new logistics center in Bietigheim
The online trade giant Amazon continues its expansion strategy in Germany and is planning a new logistics center in Bietigheim in the Rastatt district. The local council recently approved the project. The new center is to be built on a spacious property with an area of 180,000 square meters in the commercial area between the A5 and the B3.
According to Amazon, around 2,000 jobs in logistics, technology and management could be created in the new logistics center. The planned center should concentrate on small and medium -sized goods, with an impressive storage capacity of around 20 million articles. The Bietigheim location would be integrated into the already extensive Amazon network in Germany, which already includes 100 locations, including 23 logistics centers.
Constantin Braun, Mayor of Bietigheim, emphasizes the opportunities that the project offers: "The project opens up the chance to implement new work and training positions and to strengthen the municipality as an economic and commercial location". Amazon currently has ten locations in Baden-Württemberg with a total of around 3,000 employees.
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Migros centralized logistics in western Switzerland
Significant logistical restructuring takes place not only in Germany, but also in Switzerland. The Swiss retail group Migros bundles the logistics of its four western Swiss cooperatives. From July 2025, Migros Logistique Romade will take over the entire logistics in the region, whereby 500 employees will switch to the new organization.
This centralization is part of a wider trend for consolidation and increasing efficiency in the logistics industry, in which companies combine their resources in order to achieve scale effects and to improve operational efficiency.
E-commerce as a relevant growth driver in the logistics sector
The expansion in the logistics area is largely driven by the continuous growth of e-commerce. In 2023, sales in B2C-E-Commerce in Germany were 85.4 billion euros, which corresponds to an increase of around one percent compared to the previous year. Despite economic challenges such as inflation and tense economic situation, e-commerce is slowly recovering, and for 2024, a new growth of around 3.4 percent is predicted.
The highest sales groups in online trading in Germany include clothing as well as electronic items and telecommunications. The “Fashion & Accessories” industry takes first place with almost a quarter of the entire online turnover in Germany, followed by “CE/Elektro” with 22.3 percent.
Amazon, as one of the leading e-commerce players, has built up significantly jobs in Germany: "We have hired more than 4,000 employees-and it will continue to work," said the company's Germany boss, Rocco Bräuniger. With more than 40,000 employees in Germany and increasing numbers, Amazon is investing heavily in new locations and technologies.
Technological innovations revolutionize modern logistics centers
The new and expanded logistics centers are increasingly relying on innovative technologies to increase efficiency and meet the requirements of modern trade. Amazon, for example, increasingly uses robot technology, scanner and advanced computer systems in its logistics centers that enable daily processing of millions of articles. In Dortmund, Amazon presented an approximately three -meter robot called Vulcan, who fetches products from shelves and can feel well thanks to sensors.
Modern technology also plays an important role in Man. Part of the extended logistics center in Salzgitter is designed for the Traton Modular System (TMS), which standardizes spare parts supply for all brands of the Traton Group. In addition, special areas for high -voltage technology are set up and employees are trained accordingly.
In addition to the increase in efficiency, logistics companies are increasingly relying on sustainability. Amazon, for example, orders more electric trucks for Europe, of which more than 50 should be on the road in Germany to improve the CO2 record of the business.
Challenges and future prospects for the logistics sector
Despite the significant growth, the logistics sector faces various challenges. At Amazon, for example, the Verdi union criticizes the lack of legally binding collective agreements and reports on enormous pressure to perform, exhaustive work densification and surveillance in the workplace.
The future prospects for the logistics sector are still promising. The development towards Same-Day-Delivery, in which customers receive orders on the same day, will be expanded. Amazon already offers this in a good 30 German metropolitan regions and is planning an expansion, since demand increases, especially for goods of daily needs, if they are delivered on the same day.
Continuous expansion in response to changed market conditions
The capacity expansions of MAN, Amazon and Migros illustrate that companies continuously adapt their logistics infrastructure to changed market conditions. In particular, growing e-commerce and electromobility require new and expanded logistics centers.
With the strategic positioning of new locations and the integration of modern technologies, these companies create the prerequisites in order to meet the increasing requirements in terms of speed, efficiency and sustainability. The investments in the logistics sector underline its central importance for the modern economy and indicate continuing growth in the coming years.
The developments clearly show that the logistics sector is in a profound change, which is characterized by technological progress, changed customer expectations and new business models. Companies that invest in advance in these areas should continue to have competitive advantages in the future and benefit from the continued growth of e-commerce.
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