Publishing group Penguin Random House, owned by the German group Bertelsmann, has officially inaugurated its new book distribution centre in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona). The building, which started operations in September 2024, unifies the activities that were carried out up until then from four warehouses: two in Pallejà, one in Sabadell and another in the Zona Franca.

Centralising operations at the new facility will help to optimise delivery times, improve operational efficiency and reduce logistics costs, as well as reinforcing Spain's role as a key logistics hub in the European cultural industry, according to the company. It has in fact achieved several milestones since its launch, such as distributing over four million books in six months.

Over 40 million copies per year
Commissioning the new distribution centre, which the company describes as the most advanced in Europe, has involved an investment of 36 million euros. The building occupies an area of 42,000 square metres, is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and has the capacity to handle over 40 million copies per year. This is equivalent to an average of 160,000 books per day, although up to 340,000 books can be processed on days with high demand.

The transfer of staff to the new centre is expected to be completed in June. However, the distribution centre will still have room to grow. Its design reserves 25% of the available surface area for investment in future expansion. For the time being, it will be able to absorb a 15% growth in the volume of operations, with an average of135,000 books and 8,500 packages per day being forecast in 2025.

More than just a warehouse
The building houses over 24,000 active titles from the group's 61 publishing houses in Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese. However, as CEO Núria Cabutí explains, “We wanted more than just a warehouse; we needed a robotic distribution centre that will not only optimise the process, but transform the whole experience, ensuring that books reach their destinations in a more accessible, global and sustainable way”.

In addition to opening its new facility, the company has launched a new business area, through LogisPRHGE, to provide logistics services to other publishers. This will increase the number of titles to be distributed from the centre. As Cabutí confirms, “the book, as an object, has endured throughout history, adapting to technological advances and taking advantage of them to improve its dissemination. Today, thanks to these advances, we are even better positioned to fulfil our mission: to connect the authors we publish with the widest possible readership.”

Technological innovations
The choice of Cerdanyola del Vallès as the location for building the centre is due to its strategic location within the metropolitan area of Barcelona and its excellent connectivity with the rest of Spain and Europe. Thanks to the technological innovations installed at the facility, it will be possible to monitor orders in real time, improve preparation accuracy and speed up delivery times.

The logistics centre has capacity for over 20 million copies, with a robotic order picking system, four picking stations and 54 robots to handle small quantity orders and replenish stock. A further 28 self-guided collaborative robots prepare high-volume orders.

The building is the first in Catalonia to obtain BREEAM Exceptional certification, thanks to its high standards of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. It has also been certified as a healthy working environment by the WHO, and has a 180-metre evacuation tunnel, an unusual infrastructure for logistics platforms in Spain.

^{Photo: Penguin Random House}