Levi Strauss & Co. builds new distribution center and focuses on sustainability

In order to keep pace with its ever-growing business within the European market, Levi Strauss & Co, with European headquarters in Brussels, is building a distribution center in Dorsten, Germany, that is aligned with strict sustainability guidelines, including the "cradle-to-cradle" approach.

This is the result of an aligned, and strongly integrated cooperation between the involved parties",

stated Marc Meuleman, Managing Director Benelux for Miebach Consulting.

Understanding the customer's needs and values, combined with our expertise, has jointly brought us to this result in which all requirements are fulfilled, including the integration of well-designed ergomic and sustainable solutions."

Torsten Mueller, Project Lead, Levi Strauss & Co. Europe and Graham Truter, Senior Project Manager, Levi Strauss & Co. Europe said:

We selected Miebach as our partner through this journey based on their experience in such large-scale projects and their offering of consultancy as well as practical engineering."

The distribution center, which will be built on an area of almost 155,000 m², will distribute up to 55 million articles per year of Levi's products from the end of 2023. This will include fashion, accessories and footwear, which will be available to wholesale, retail, digital, e-com and marketplace.

Since the planning phase of the logistics project, Miebach Consulting supported Levi Strauss & Co. in the PMO, concept validation and tendering for the building and intralogistics. In the upcoming implementation phase, Miebach is supporting the fashion company as sub-project manager for the building and intralogistics and is ensuring a holistic project approach with an overarching cross-sectional approach, which also includes the area of quality assurance for the IT.

In terms of sustainability, the building sets new standards. The new logistics center will be the first logistics facility in Germany to comply with the "cradle-to-cradle" sustainability approach. This describes a circular construction method based on the principles of recycling, resource conservation and waste reduction, with the aim of keeping the ecological footprint as small as possible.

In addition, the building will receive LEED as well as WELL certification. The latter represents the first and only certification system specifically focused on the health and well-being of building occupants.

The technical solution will enable Levi Strauss & Co. to continue to grow and is optimally designed to meet future market requirements.

The distribution center will include an automated goods-to-person solution, an automated small parts warehouse and a shuttle system to meet omni-channel capabilities, fast returns processing, flexible adaptation to changing order structures and all future service requirements to the market"

- says Philipp Schubert, Project Manager, Miebach Consulting GmbH.

Laying of the foundation stone for the major project is planned for fall 2021, go-live of the facility will be at the end of 2023.

Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world's largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi's®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™, and Denizen® brands. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of approximately 3,000 retail stores and shop-in-shops. Levi Strauss & Co. net sales were $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2018. More information at https://www.levistrauss.com.