Press releases

Swiss Post opens new parcel center in Rümlang (ZH)

The belt conveyors at the new Rümlang regional parcel center in the canton of Zurich are running at full speed, with Swiss Post expecting to sort around 5,000 parcels an hour here. Today’s opening of the Rümlang parcel center represents a further expansion of Swiss Post’s logistics network. The center is also a clear sign of Swiss Post’s commitment to Zurich Unterland as a business location. Swiss Post is creating around 60 additional jobs in the municipality of Rümlang at the new site. The regional parcel center will allow Swiss Post to get closer to its customers, ensure shorter transport routes and process parcels in a faster, more eco-friendly manner. By the beginning of 2023, Swiss Post will put two more regional parcel centers into operation in Buchs (AG) and Pratteln (BL).

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The new regional parcel center in Rümlang (ZH) went into operation today after around a year of construction work. The machines are running at full speed and sort around 5,000 parcels per hour for the greater Zurich-North area. Swiss Post has invested a total of 11 million francs in the conversion of the former industrial warehouse,  creating around 60 new jobs in the municipality of Rümlang. Cantonal Councillor Carmen Walker Späh is delighted with the center’s opening. “The canton of Zurich welcomes this step and sees the investment as a commitment by Swiss Post to the Zurich Unterland area. We’re pleased that Swiss Post is creating new jobs in the region,”, adds the Head of the Department for Economic Affairs of the Canton of Zurich at the opening ceremony. And Stefan Nolte, Head of Logistics Services Operations at Swiss Post, explains: “The parcel center in the Riedmatt industrial district is a stroke of luck for us”. Logistics space in existing industrial areas is rare, and the location near the motorway is ideal in terms of transport connections. The access roads are far away from residential areas, so the local population is not affected.

New parcel center ensures shorter distances and protects the environment

The coronavirus pandemic significantly accelerated the expansion of online retail, and Swiss Post still expects increasing parcel volumes. The company wants to continue to process these volumes efficiently and deliver them on time. Swiss Post is tackling this challenge and is already planning and making investments in this area. The company’s goal is to expand its sorting and delivery infrastructure and enlarge its logistics network by modernizing existing facilities and opening additional new regional parcel centers. “Swiss Post is focusing on proximity to its customers and short distances,” says Head of Operations, Stefan Nolte. The mailed parcels from and for the region are increasingly sorted in the region itself. The new site in Rümlang shows how this works in practice. The new center means the company can shorten parcel processing times, avoid long transport distances and, in turn, protect the environment. Previously, Swiss Post processed parcels from and for the Zurich Unterland region in Frauenfeld and in Urdorf, but in future, this will no longer be necessary (see info box).

Besides Rümlang, Swiss Post will open new regional parcel centers in Buchs (AG) and Pratteln (BL) by the beginning of 2023. Over the next few years, more centers will be opened near the conurbations of Basel, Bern and Zurich, and the plans are well under way. “It will help us secure Swiss Post’s core business, our position as Switzerland’s leading logistics provider and create new jobs,” adds Nolte. This is entirely in line with the “Swiss Post of tomorrow” new Group strategy, with its clearly stated goal of making substantial investments in logistics

Swiss Post to invest around 1.5 billion francs in parcel processing by 2030

By 2030, Swiss Post intends to double its parcel processing capacity, enabling the operation of at least 15 parcel sorting sites. Thanks to this expansion, Swiss Post wants to handle increasing parcel volumes, meet the needs of its customers and provide a high-quality public service for the population and businesses in Switzerland. With this in mind, it is investing around 1.5 billion francs and creating a total of 1,500 full-time jobs. The moves mean Swiss Post is seamlessly building on its recent past. It has invested 250 million francs in parcel processing over the past five years. Swiss Post has opened four new regional parcel centers since 2019 – in Cadenazzo (TI) in 2019 and in Ostermundigen (BE), Vétroz (VS) and Untervaz (GR) in 2020. 

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Rümlang location: specific benefits for the region

  • Until now, Swiss Post had transported many parcels for the Zurich North region from the regional parcel center in Urdorf through the Gubrist tunnel. Because Rümlang is much better situated in terms of transport connections for the region, the Gubrist bottleneck with its evening traffic jams – and with it the frequent delays – will no longer be an issue for Swiss Post.
  • The distribution base in Bülach has always been an important site for the Zurich Unterland region. Swiss Post will continue to organize the delivery of parcels and letters to households from here. However, the journey from the Rümlang parcel center is now much shorter, which saves time and protects the environment.
  • The opening of the parcel center means that one in 120 employees in Rümlang now works for Swiss Post – and in the services sector, the figure is actually one in 90.

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Information:

Silvana Grellmann, Swiss Post Media Unit, 058 341 26 71, presse@swisspost.ch