Procter and Gamble continues to invest in the expansion of the Euskirchen site. The expansion of the distribution center in Euskirchen has now begun with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony.

In total, P&G is investing 40 million euros in the site. The common goals of the city and the company are secure jobs and life satisfaction. This is how Euskirchen’s Mayor Sacha Reichelt commented on the start of the expansion. According to P&G, the plant is and will remain a strategically important production and logistics location.

“There is no better place in Europe than to invest in Euskirchen,” said Pietro d’Arpa, head of logistics Europe at Procter & Gamble. With this statement, he put a smile on the face of Euskirchen’s mayor, Sacha Reichelt – even recognizable despite the mask.

According to Procter & Gamble, they are investing 40 million euros in the Euskirchen site. The new distribution center on the site in the Silberberg industrial park (Ipas) in Großbüllesheim is scheduled to be completed as early as next year. “It is a historic day for us and a clear commitment to the Euskirchen site,” said Madhav Rao about the “groundbreaking event”. A normal groundbreaking is not enough for the global company Procter, which claims to have operations in 70 countries and, according to Forbes, had sales of more than 66 billion dollars in 2017. Reichelt, Rao and d’Arpa symbolically grabbed a spade and threw a bit of sand through the air. But the real highlight was the virtual tour through the planned, state-of-the-art and fully automated warehouse using virtual reality glasses.

No more empty runs
Even if only the first preparatory measures have been completed so far, without virtual reality it can already be guessed that the warehouse will not only be modern, but also large. The floor area is 4700 square meters. The expansion is intended to strengthen the delivery capabilities for retail, for direct deliveries to customers in countries other than Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and for cross-location deliveries to other distribution centers. The high-bay warehouse will mainly have space for pallets, and it is directly connected to the adjacent distribution center – a factor that is said to be of great importance for the company’s sustainable orientation. “On the roads in Europe, 20 percent of all trucks are empty. We will no longer have that,” assured logistics manager d’Arpa. Empty runs should be a thing of the past at Procter & Gamble.

In order to reduce CO2 emissions, the company says it is also planning to shift delivery routes from road to rail and water. The trucks that will continue to be used will be fueled with bio-diesel or – if the technology allows it – will be electrically powered in the future.

Procter & Gamble helped after the flood disaster
Mayor Reichelt appreciated the investment and looked back on Procter & Gamble’s help during the flood disaster. “We are no longer just business partners, we have become friends,” said Reichelt.

The crisis team of the Euskirchen administration had been set up on the Procter site after the flood. The company also provided helpers and firefighters with food. Numerous donations in kind were also handed out on the factory premises in Ipas. According to Reichelt, the Euskirchen fire brigade received a donation of 400,000 euros. “It was an impressive collaboration,” said the mayor: “The current investment is an exclamation mark and means planning security for the employees who identify with the location and Euskirchen.”

Old hall is being renovated
According to Procter & Gamble, Hall 14, which was previously used as a high-bay warehouse, will be emptied and renovated. Logistics manager d’Arpa was in Großbüllesheim for the first time in three years. “It’s one of the largest investments we’ve made in Europe to date,” said the head of logistics, not entirely without pride. Planning for the automated warehouse began in winter 2021. A few months later, the green light was given for the planned investment, and the final design began at full speed.