New postal logistics

Turbo for 250,000 Viennese parcels a day

Up to seven parcels per second can be dispatched in Inzersdorf.

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

The huge new logistics center of the postal service is designed to handle the constantly growing number of parcels in Vienna. The new facility in Inzersdorf already distributes three parcels per second, at peak times even seven.

The next wave of parcels can come: Austrian Post's new logistics center in Vienna-Inzersdorf has gone into full operation. Austrian Post now considers itself well equipped to handle the constantly growing volume of parcels in Vienna, which has tripled in the last ten years.

Enormous dimensions
In the 22,000 square meter hall, high technology and 260 employees working in two shifts will ensure that over a quarter of a million parcels are delivered from Vienna or to Viennese addresses every day. This means an average of three parcels per second, and even seven at peak times. The most innovative feature is a sorting system that divides the parcels into three size and weight categories in advance. This in-house development by Swiss Post has already been sold to Denmark.

The hall is larger than three soccer pitches.

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

The system cost 70 million euros. Space was not spared. Growing parcel volumes can be handled without additional buildings simply by upgrading the machines, assures Swiss Post. Attention was also paid to sustainability: The PV system on the roof provides up to two megawatts of peak power, heating is provided by a heat pump and a green space concept was developed for the open areas. At the opening, Austrian Post CEO Georg Pölzl also promised to improve the eco-balance of Austrian Post in Vienna by converting the vehicle fleet to e-cars as early as 2025.

The "ex-postmen" Toni Faber and Michael Ludwig with Post CEO Georg Pölzl

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

Mayor and cathedral priest with a "Postler heart"
The opening was also attended by Mayor Michael Ludwig and cathedral priest Toni Faber, who both confessed that a "postal worker's heart" beats in their chest: Faber once worked at the post office in Liesing for several summers, Ludwig as a letter carrier in Floridsdorf in the summer, especially in the Großfeldsiedlung ("Three backpacks full of Quelle catalogs - it was almost impossible to derzahn") and as a parcel sorter at train stations in the winter.

Catalogs are no longer needed for the mail-order business, which is growing all the time: Only around a third of all parcels handled in Inzersdorf are sent from one company address to another, but two thirds are sent to private addresses following online orders. "The Viennese only send a few parcels privately," says Austrian Post.