The New FOXPOST Central Warehouse

FOXPOST has moved into the first new facility of the industrial and logistics HelloParks megapark in Maglód. We are currently occupying a 8,400 square‑metre area, where we are implementing a €1.5‑million investment project to install automatic parcel sorting lines. These will increase our daily sorting capacity nearly tenfold. Located close to motorways M0, M4 and M5 as well as the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD), the facility is built to meet very strict sustainability criteria.

Source: HelloParks

What benefits does the new warehousing facility offer to the operations of FOXPOST?

This represents a huge step forward for FOXPOST, being the third largest central warehouse in the current CEP (Courier-Express-Parcel) market. It’s larger than the DPD sorting centre, but smaller than the facilities of GLS, or the Hungarian Post. This central warehouse is set up to service our entire nationwide network, which will grow to over a thousand locations by 2024.

What necessitated the new warehouse?

For one thing, the dynamic growth in the number of parcels we handle. Compared to last year – which was our best year so far – this year we will see an expansion of over 40%, even with the significant expansion of our parcel locker terminal network only taking place in Q2.

What capacity will the newly installed line offer?

Our new warehouse will allow us to switch to a new sorting technology, implementing a fully automatic system. This is a huge investment project, over €1.5 million in value. The new system will allow us to sort the incredible volume of parcels we handle much more efficiently and precisely.

The new line offers a daily sorting capacity of 100,000 parcels – nearly ten times our current maximum capacity! The current semi‑automatic sorting system is no longer sufficient to handle this volume of parcels. We would simply need too many people.

What made you choose the Maglód facility?

Moving the warehousing operations to a non‑urban location is a complex task that required a paradigm shift, as FOXPOST has always preferred storage in urban areas. The new facility offers a storage area in the 8‑10 thousand square‑metre range, which would be nigh‑on impossible to find in cities – and if it were available, the rent would be significantly higher.

The new location’s proximity to the Budapest Airport opens new possibilities, novel business and development horizons – including servicing international flows, for example. In addition, the 1 July changes in the customs and VAT laws are beneficial for us, in that now we can process B2C shipments coming from non‑EU countries, such as China. Budapest Airport is Europe’s “gateway to China”, meaning we can expect an increasing number of shipments from China, a share of which will, hopefully, be handled by FOXPOST. This type of facility is known as an “end of runway warehouse”, meaning that the warehouse is in the vicinity of the runways themselves. We intend to exploit the benefits of this location, which is also easily accessible from Budapest. Our ideal warehouse location has always been in the southern part of Budapest. Maglód is more to the south‑east, but it is close to the city, and provides easy access to rural locations as well. And our central warehouse is not the only new development: we will also be opening facilities in the rural areas. Our Debrecen facility opened in the second week of August.

What made you choose HelloParks?

We have always focused on environmentally friendly operations. I think most people know by now that Foxpost‑delivered parcels have the smallest carbon footprint. Our carbon dioxide emissions per parcel are 100 grams (3.5 ounces) in Budapest and 200 grams (7 ounces) in the rest of the country, thanks in part to our fleet of electric vehicles. Our existing warehouses all boast good thermal insulation and are in good general condition. What sold us on HelloParks, in addition to the good pricing and location, is their use of green energy. This will allow FOXPOST to reduce our carbon footprint even more. We are positively happy to find another major partner – like Aldi – who focuses on sustainability so clearly. All this means FOXPOST can increase the sustainability of our parcel delivery operations even further.