Stefanie Danne, corporate communications with Deutsche Post World Net, says DHL's property holdings number some 14,000 facilities around the world, amounting to more than 215 million sq. ft. (20 million sq. m.). The company's $1.4-billion push in Asia is built in large part around its joint venture with Sinotrans, through which it operates four international gateways in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as seven additional outbound-only flight gateways in Qingdao, Dalian, Chengdu, Wuhan, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Xi'an.

One Mover of Many      An $89-million, 110-job investment by Honda of America in a new logistics and distribution hub in Troy, Ohio, is just one of dozens of automotive logistics projects dotting the globe.      Situated next door to a Honda parts distribution and procurement operation site that opened in 1986, the new 500,000-sq.-ft. (46,450-sq.-m.) facility will contain the company's Midwestern U.S. domestic parts distribution hub and a procurement support center. It will serve American Honda's nine other distribution centers in the U.S. when it opens in late 2007. Its full-time employment needs will top out at around 210, with 100 of those jobs transferring from the older, 300,000-sq.-ft (27,870-sq.-m.) facility. That will leave the older facility's payroll at 240. The new facility will also employ 20 part-time employees.      "Given our history in Ohio, we found Troy to be an ideal location due to the capable and available work force, well-located land and efficient logistics," said James Roach, vice president of American Honda's Part Division. The chosen site beat out candidates in Illinois and Kentucky.      In connection with the expansion project, a new road leading to the nearby I-75 interchange will be constructed in order to improve plant access and detour truck traffic from locally used roads. The project will receive a 10-year full property tax incentive from the City of Troy, as well as a 10-year, 65-percent tax credit from Ohio.      Honda of America Manufacturing employs 13,000 at its Ohio plants in Anna, Marysville and East Liberty. They make up 25 percent of the company's 12-plant North American portfolio, in addition to three R&D centers. - Adam Bruns

      The company has more than 1.9 million sq. ft. (180,000 sq. m.) of warehouse space in the country. The newest project is DHL's first quality control center in the country, located in Beijing's Tianzhu Airport Industrial Zone.DHL's Asian investments span the entire hemisphere, from a Central Asian hub in Hong Kong to increased facility investments in Korea, Australia and the Philippines.
      Not to be outgunned, North America is attracting its own $1.2-billion investment program from DHL, first launched in June 2004. Already the company has added seven regional sort centers and a new west coast air and ground hub in Southern California. In addition, it's consolidated national air and ground hub operations into a vastly expanded principal hub in Wilmington, Ohio, and expanded its east coast distribution facility in Allentown, Pa. Meanwhile, its headquarters employee base keeps growing in Broward County, Fla.
      "DHL has also announced a $160-million investment in hub automation and integration equipment across the three principal facilities," says Danne. "Our investments in network enhancements, including significant investments in information technology, will put DHL in an even better competitive position while providing capacity for future growth."
      Danne says DHL was the first international express company to recognize the importance of China, entering the country in 1986. But in his July announcement of FedEx's new $150-million Asia-Pacific transshipment hub at Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport, FedEx Chairman Frederick Smith said, "More than two decades ago, we envisioned China as a nexus of global supply and demand and as a result became the first express carrier to enter the market."
      In any case, they're all there now. FedEx's project will encompass 882,70 sq. ft. (82,000 sq. m.) on a 155-acre (63-hectare) site. It will begin operations in December 2008.