The Texas facility helps meet the cross-border logistics demand created by nearshoring.
Kuehne+Nagel has opened a new 363,000 square-foot facility in El Paso, TX.1 The plant, which is scheduled to open on Aug. 5, 2024 while also bringing 145 jobs to the area, consists of four warehouses from across the border that are essentially consolidated into one. Nearshoring—the concept of relocating business operations to a neighboring country—has been a trend among global companies; as a result, Kuehne+Nagel decided to establish this site as a way to help facilitate these types of supply chain processes.
The aforementioned site will help to support the needs of customers who need to transport goods both northbound and southbound over the Mexico-United States border. The facility contains 125 truck yard spots, 54 dock doors, new offices, capabilities for both front and rear cross docks, boosted security, and vertical racked storage locations.
Consolidating the four warehouses into one offers several efficiencies, including the reduction of time between when a truck is received and offloaded with greater dock availability as a result of better cargo flow.
“With this offering, we enhance our ability to support customers in overcoming logistics challenges presented by the global trend of nearshoring with more capacity and space as we move their valuable freight,” said John Levin, regional VP for central area, for Kuehne+Nagel US. “The state-of-the art warehouse opening is a milestone for Kuehne+Nagel in North America as it reinforces our commitment to serving the cross-border as part of the company’s growth strategy. This new, larger facility in El Paso, TX increases our warehouse footprint, improves building efficiencies, and complements our freight forwarding services with final import and export services into or out of Mexico.”
The global logistics company has been in the news quite a bit over the past few months, including late last year, when it opened a new air logistics hub at the heart of Cargo City at the Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Airport.2 With this new location, the company—who is also considered a third-party logistics provider—has increased its global air freight capacities and strengthened its healthcare logistics solutions in the region.
The hub has the capacity to handle 300 air freight pallets a week. Its processing surface is reportedly 2.5 times larger than the previous space, with direct access to runways.
Last week, the company unveiled new service options3 for the transportation of medical technology (MedTech) devices as part of its road freight offering in Europe; its technologies help tackle the needs of aging populations and patients with diseases such as asthma, diabetes, heart failure, and hypertension.
Depending on the service option that they select (MedTech or MedTech+), customers can expected regular consignment inspections, end-to-end visibility, and deliveries that also include removal of packing material and device installation.
"What is exceptional is that customers can also choose this service option for groupage shipments, in addition to LTL and FTL. We can guarantee the quality through focused investments in safety procedures, skilled staff and specially equipped cross-docks and stations," said Joerg Woyke, Global Head of Road Logistics Healthcare. "Even when GxP compliancy is not required for medical devices, sensitive handling is highly important."
References
1. Kuehne+Nagel opens new facility in El Paso, Texas to meet market demand for cross-border logistics. Kuehne+Nagel. May 28, 2024. Accessed May 29, 2024. https://newsroom.kuehne-nagel.com/kuehnenagel-opens-new-facility-in-el-paso-texas-to-meet-market-demand-for-cross-border-logistics/
2. Kuehne+Nagel Opens Logistics Hub at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Pharmaceutical Commerce. October 24, 2023. Accessed May 29, 2024. https://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/view/kuehne-nagel-opens-logistics-hub-at-charles-de-gaulle-airport
3. Kuehne+Nagel launches specialized road logistics services for the MedTech industry in Europe. Kuehne+Nagel. May 24, 2024. Accessed May 29, 2024. https://newsroom.kuehne-nagel.com/kuehnenagel-launches-specialised-road-logistics-services-for-the-medtech-industry-in-europe/