23-05-2017
UPS has announced construction is underway at its Lenexa, Kansas hub in the nation’s midsection to add 200,000 square feet and more than 42 percent new processing capacity. The facility will total about 430,000 square feet when completed in 2020 with the latest operational technology, processing efficiency and network flexibility. A second facility about 25 miles south in the rapidly growing Edgerton community will add another 197,000 square feet this fall in time for processing packages during the busy holiday season.
“Kansas is at the center of the reliable UPS® network to keep packages rapidly moving in all directions across the country,” said Fern Shaw, president of UPS’s Central Plains District that includes Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and portions of Illinois. “New technologies will give our people training and opportunity to make processing accuracy a hallmark and expand what we offer businesses and consumers who are benefiting from e-commerce growth.”
These projects represent a more than $220 million investment in Kansas and are expected to add 100 jobs over the next five years and sustain flexible operations. UPS participated in the state’s “Promoting Employment Across Kansas” (PEAK) economic development program. Incentives include tax credits and workforce recruiting and training assistance.
Nearly 5,000 UPS employees in Kansas provide package delivery, ground freight, air gateway operations, freight forwarding, contract logistics and support services.
UPS will begin recruiting for part-time operations in July at upsjobs.com for training at the Lenexa facility before workers transition to the newly-opened Edgerton location. Part-time employees are eligible for benefits, including tuition assistance through the UPS Earn & Learn program.
Edgerton will include a UPS Customer Center and will dispatch the familiar brown trucks for routes in the area. The location offers convenient access to nearby intermodal rail operations as an intermediate point in the UPS network to connect road and rail for long-distance UPS® Ground package transit.
Advanced package scanning and sortation equipment in Lenexa will allow dynamic changes to route volume through the building and provide flexibility to adjust to different loading patterns prompted by weather conditions or volume surges. Delivery centers will continue to operate from the Lenexa facility throughout the phased construction for local pickup and delivery.
The expanded facility footprint includes more trailer staging and employee parking and will continue to provide fueling for both conventional and alternative fuel tractors and package delivery vehicles.
Source: UPS