Center in Premstätten

Like an open-plan disco: how the new Amazon center works

The facility south of Graz is brand new, but the work processes are not. They follow the global Amazon etiquette.

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

Operations are slowly getting underway at the fifth Austrian Amazon site in Premstätten. After 14 months of construction, the first employees have started work, but it will still be a while before the building is fully completed. The background music in the 11,000-square-meter hall already has the feel of an open-plan disco.

A handful of employees stand at the conveyor belt during the "Steirerkrone" visit on Thursday morning and ensure that everything is sorted correctly. They are almost exclusively men who will soon have their 2 a.m. shift behind them. They almost lose themselves in the gigantic hall - the largest of the parcel giant's five distribution centers in Austria. The staff on the other, more family-friendly shifts are much more female, we are assured.

The music comes from the conveyor belt, as do the parcels
Conversations take place under difficult conditions, as the people on the conveyor belt play their own sorting music. Any DJ can play here for a day - quite loudly. Otherwise, the entertainment options in the industrial estate on the A9 are few and far between; the employees spend their breaks on the premises, with free drinks and discounted meals to warm them up.

This is where the parcels are prepared for the "last mile".

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

Amazon spokesperson Steffen Adler explains the individual work steps.

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

Sandra Schänzer manages the new Premstätten site.

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

Gradual increase until Christmas
There are currently 65 people filling the new site with life. The hall is designed for a total of 130 employees, but it will still take a few months before it is fully operational, explains spokesman Steffen Adler. In the meantime, the aim is to "stabilize the processes and test the volume in the delivery area". The first big test will be the Christmas business.

After twice in Vienna, Lower Austria and Klagenfurt, the distribution center in Premstätten is now to optimize supply in southern Styria in particular. The advantage for customers: They can now place their orders later and will still be delivered the day after next at the latest.

Amazon in Premstätten

• 130 employees will work in the Amazon distribution center when it is fully expanded. Theoretically, there is capacity for up to 270 employees.
• Work is carried out in four shifts, and the center is only closed from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and on Sundays.
• Goods are delivered from the large logistics centers abroad by around ten large trucks every day.
• There are now five Amazon distribution centers in Austria: two in Vienna, one each in Lower Austria, Carinthia and Styria.

Capricious weather overshadows opening
The start was not under a good star, the planned official opening on Thursday was postponed to October due to the cloudy weather. So far, the new location has only been celebrated internally.

The largest Amazon distribution center in Austria in Premstätten

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

However, the floods have also shown what a global corporation worth billions is capable of: the disaster base in Rheinberg, Germany, was activated immediately, where tons of goods that are in demand in crisis situations are stored. Within 72 hours, organizations that register a need can be supplied with tents, for example. In Austria, the company is working with the Red Cross, to which 25,000 euros in emergency flood aid has been donated.