Amazon opens emergency supply facility in Germany
Amazon has expanded its Disaster Relief Hub model overseas.
The retail giant has opened its first Disaster Relief Hub in Europe. Located in Amazon's fulfillment center in Rheinberg, Germany, the more than 21,000-sq.-ft. facility will be filled with 1,000 pallets of relief items, enough to fill a Boeing 737 plane 20 times.
Amazon opened its first-ever Disaster Relief Hub near Atlanta in June 2021. The main purpose of the facilities is to enable Amazon to use its logistics network to quickly send critical products to nonprofits and community partners in the wake of natural disasters.
At the hub in Germany, Amazon will store and pack items that are most needed following damaging storms, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, and other emergencies. The company selected the locations because it offers easy access to major international airports and transport networks.
The items stored include sheltering supplies (such as tents, blankets, cots, mats, sleeping bags), hygiene kits (such as soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste), and cleaning items (such as working gloves or cleaning supplies).
Amazon has analyzed data that shows the kind of products requested after each natural disaster since 2017 and found that more than 80% of the needed items are the same following each major natural disaster. These include diapers, tarps, cots, blankets, heaters, tents, and cleaning supplies.
According to Amazon, having a dedicated facility where these items are ready to be shipped allows it to send help across the region in less than 72 hours, much faster than if teams had to pack the products and consolidate across different facilities throughout Europe.
[Read more: Amazon commits $600,000, tech support to Syria, Turkey earthquake relief efforts]
"Today, natural disasters happen more often and are increasingly more severe—and we’re mobilizing our global inventory, logistics infrastructure, and technology to support the communities impacted by these emergencies. We’re committed to use our scale and passion for invention for good," said Bettina Stix, head of Amazon Disaster Relief, in a corporate blog post.
"We’ve partnered with local and international relief organizations to understand their needs and we’ve looked at our data to identify the most-demanded products in the aftermath of natural disasters," said Stix. "With the opening of this new Hub in Germany, our response to disasters across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa will be even faster and more efficient."