“The Lubusz region due to its strategic location and its improving infrastructure is becoming an important centre for e-commerce in Europe. In this region, Panattoni has already delivered over 730,000 sqm of space to its clients and has over 100,000 sqm of further space planned. This amounts to half the volume of industrial space in this rapidly growing market. We are pleased that Hermes Fulfilment appreciates our developments and chose us as a partner to build its first centre in Poland. This was a very challenging development and the building had a high degree of complexity. Because of this, we have all the more reason to thank Hermes for its trust and for its exemplary partnership”, comments Dorota Jagodzińska-Sasson, the Managing Director of Panattoni. 

The development in Iłowa just outside Żagań comprises 115,000 sqm of construction space but through the use of a multi-level mezzanine (four storeys), the actual usable space comes to nearly 250,000 sqm. Eventually, a few thousand people will be employed in the centre, 60% of whom are to be women. The centre was handed over for use at the end of the first quarter/beginning of the second quarter of this year.

“Our first logistics centre in Poland marks a milestone for our operations in Europe. It is one of the most modern as well as one of the largest centres in the Hermes Group portfolio. The development is a combination of advanced technology with human talent, which results in improved efficiency and work safety standards”, says Julia Hanebuth, the Managing Director of Hermes Fulfilment for Central and Eastern Europe. The centre has been equipped with a highly-automated pouch sorter and an automated sorter for the segregation of parcels. Other automated systems include covering goods in plastic film, cardboard box production with the firm’s logo and the internal transport of packages. In the future, robots are to assist with the inspection of the centre both inside and out as well as to assist with the unloading of parcels.

The Hermes Fulfilment is to be used for the picking and packing of orders for the Otto Group e-commerce company, whose logistics operations are the responsibility of the Hermes Group. Otto Group is a German family firm founded over 75 years ago and is currently one of the largest integrated e-commerce companies in the world with a presence in over 30 countries.

The orders that are to be handled in the Iłowa centre are to mainly comprise clothing, textiles, jewellery, toys, small home appliances and small electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablets. With the optimised systems almost 80 mln items can be delivered from the centre every year, but the centre is to be prepared to handle up to twice this number of orders. At first, the centre is mainly to serve Germany, but in future, this could be extended to include Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy. 

Located just 20 km from the German border, the development is to be certified under DGNB for a rating of Gold. The centre has been equipped with a photovoltaic installation with a capacity of 0.5 MWp, although this could be increased by a further 1.5 MWp. The share of renewably sourced energy in the centre’s annual requirement for final energy comes to 27.3%, which is an extremely good figure that also allows the annual requirement for primary energy to be lowered by over 24.2% (two times less than what is required by the taxonomy in this regard). The centre is equipped with an advanced BMS system which controls systems such as the central ventilation system with heat recovery and the building’s lighting.