!NEW! Opel Building New Spare Parts Distribution Center in Bochum

• Carmaker investing €60 million in Bochum
• Biggest General Motors investment worldwide in spare parts logistics
• Ultra-modern warehouse with a surface of 95,000 m²
• Groundbreaking ceremony with Garrelt Duin, NRW Minister of Economics

Big investment: Opel will erect a new spare parts distribution center in Bochum.

Opel is building in Bochum: The company will erect a new building complex on the Opel site in Bochum-Landendreer for €60 million. 700 employees will look after European spare parts supply from 2017. More than 100,000 different part items will be stored in the new distribution center with a surface of 95,000 m2.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which represents General Motors’ biggest single investment worldwide in spare parts logistics, took place today. Peter Christian Küspert, Vice President Sales & Aftersales Opel Group, Murat Yaman, Chairman of the Bochum employee's representation, Prof. Dr. Rolf Heyer, Managing Director of “Bochum Perspektive 2022” and two high-ranking political guests: the Minister of Economics of North Rhine-Westphalia Garrelt Duin and Bochum’s Lory Mayor Thomas Eiskirch.

Prof. Dr. Rolf Heyer, Managing Director of “Bochum Perspektive 2022”, Garrelt Duin, Minister of Economics of North Rhine-Westphalia, Peter Christian Küspert, Vice President Sales & Aftersales Opel Group, Bochum’s Lord Mayor Thomas Eiskirch and Murat Yaman, Chairman of the Bochum employee's representation, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new distribution center in Bochum-Langendreer (from left to right).

“Spare parts logistics are one of our key competences,” emphasized Peter Christian Küspert. “Ensuring fast and smooth parts supply for Opel drivers is an important component of customer satisfaction.”

The project will be realized by building contractors Goldbeck who specialize in industrial facilities. Goldbeck will be responsible for all engineering services from planning to building including the technical building systems.

An area of 10 hectares, which is equivalent to the size of a dozen football pitches, needs to be cleared to make way for the new building. In the next step, the site will then be filled in with 190,000 m3 of earth. Finally, shelving systems with a total length of 13,500 meters will be installed.

“We stood up for this investment along with the conservation and expansion of the distribution center from the very beginning. My 700 colleagues and I are therefore even more pleased to witness this important groundbreaking event today. This is all the more true because we returned to the Opel network at the beginning of the year. The long-term future of the jobs in the Bochum distribution center is therefore secured. It is an import signal and a new chapter of Opel in Bochum has been opened,” said Murat Yaman.

“The construction of the new distribution center in Bochum means that hundreds of jobs are secure in the long term. With DHL already having decided to build a parcel center here this investment is another clear signal for the attractiveness of this site in the heart the Ruhr metropolis,” added Garrelt Duin, Minister of Economics of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The ink on the purchase agreement between the DHL and the development company “Bochum Perspektive 2022” is only just dry with the agreement for the building of the parcel center. This gives the town officials a further reason to be optimistic. “Two large projects have commenced in the matter of a few days. It shows: Bochum is a place worth investing in. Now we need to continue. It is our job to make sure that more investments follow,” said Bochum’s Lord Mayor Thomas Eiskirch.