The Penguin Random House publishing group will execute an investment of 36 million euros to build a new logistics center of 42,000 square meters in Cerdanyola del Vallès for the distribution of its books. The facility will house more than 20,000 active titles from the group's 42 Catalan and Spanish publishing imprints and will be built on 70,000 square meters of land previously occupied by the old Aiscondel factory. It will become operational in early 2025 and will increase efficiency by unifying all of the company's logistics operations.
According to the company, whose CEO is Núria Cabutí, of the 36 million, 16 million will be allocated to cutting-edge robotic technology to be able to distribute 35 million books a year, at a rate of 130,000 per day. From this platform, Penguin Random House will reach 36 countries and points of sale in Spain "with greater agility and flexibility," the executive states, reports ACN.
The Penguin Random House publishing group has emphasized that it is an "ambitious" project that must address the lack of space they already had due to business expansion in recent years and, at the same time, equip itself with a cutting-edge logistics center in the technological field. The forecast is that during the second half of 2024, activity will begin to be transferred, technology and machinery incorporated, and by the first quarter of 2025, they expect it to be fully operational. "It is a 36 million euro project with which we will achieve a leading book distribution center in Europe with the latest technological and robotic adaptations on the market," assures the executive.
"Little by little we will transfer the operations we have in Pallejà here," explains Cabutí, who was convinced that they will be able to provide "better service" by concentrating all logistics distribution in a single point and being able to process orders more quickly. It will be the only one they will have at a national level, in addition to the one they already have in Portugal. The offices of the Spanish headquarters of the German group will remain in Barcelona. The forecast is that the company's 130 logistics workers will move to the new center and also generate new indirect jobs in the area.
"The investment in this center will allow us to continue to have the distribution of our books internalized. The unification of all our operations will help us to be more efficient and competitive, guaranteeing high productivity, and at the same time providing better well-being to our employees and being more environmentally sustainable," highlights Cabutí.
The other strategic pillar of the project will be sustainability. It is being built on the disused land of the old Aiscondel factory. The plot occupies 70,000 square meters and is located in a strategic area, being 11 km from Barcelona and close to direct access to the AP7 and C-58. According to the promoters, it will stand out for its energy efficiency with elements such as 10,000 solar collectors that will provide energy equivalent to the consumption of 1,500 families (avoiding the emission of 4,400 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere), as detailed by David Alcázar, director of Segro Spain, the developer that is building the complex.
A box with books, a symbol of its legacy
At the groundbreaking ceremony this Thursday, representatives of the Penguin Random House publishing group, together with the mayor of Cerdanyola del Vallès, Carlos Cordón, and Segro Spain, covered a box loaded with symbolism with earth. Inside, according to Cabutí, is the "legacy of the publishers who have forged the foundations of the publishing group," represented by a selection of about ten books in Catalan and Spanish from the 20,000 authors they have in their catalog. Among them were universal works such as The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; Mafalda, by Quino, and other titles by reference authors in Catalonia, such as Pere Calders, Montserrat Roig (Tots els contes), Josep Maria Espinàs, with El meu ofici, and Francisco Ibáñez, with a copy of Mortadelo y Filemón, among others.
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial has 61 publishing imprints and publishes 2,500 titles a year in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is part of the international group of the same name, which was created by Bertelsmann in 2013.