With a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony, Ayka ParX and Zeppelin Baumaschinen celebrated the start of construction of the new logistics center in the Cologne-Bonn economic and logistics region on October 10. For the largest company of the Zeppelin Group, Ayka ParX is developing a logistics center with a total usable floor area of 16,400 square meters on the interior and 4,000 square meters on the exterior, according to a press release from the developer of the industrial and logistics park dated October 14. From the new site, Zeppelin Baumaschinen will handle the planning and procurement of spare parts for Caterpillar construction machinery as well as
the storage and distribution for all branches and service stations of all business segments within Germany. A total of 100 to 125 employees will be employed.
Zeppelin Baumaschinen, based in Garching near Munich, is a European sales and service organization in the construction machinery industry and has been Caterpillar Inc.'s sales and service partner in Germany since 1954, the worldwide manufacturer of construction machinery. With 1,941 employees and a 2024 revenue of around 1.19 billion euros, Zeppelin Baumaschinen GmbH is the largest company of the Zeppelin Group, offering comprehensive solutions in the areas of construction, agriculture, recycling, energy and industry.
Inside the hall of
the logistics center in Cologne, among other things, a high-bay warehouse as well as an automated “AutoStore” small-parts storage will be created. In addition, a hazardous materials storage and a production facility for hydraulic hoses will be built. A PV rooftop system and the use of an air-source heat pump are intended to ensure CO2-reducing operation.
The property sits on a 50,830-square-meter brownfield. There the company will carry out the planning and procurement of spare parts for construction machinery. The customers are all branches and service stations of all business areas within Germany.
“The Cologne site has decisive importance for the spare parts supply
of the Zeppelin organization,” said Holger Schulz, Chairman of the Management Board of Zeppelin Baumaschinen. “It is located near the central Caterpillar spare parts warehouse in Grimbergen, Belgium, which supplies the logistics center in Cologne with Caterpillar spare parts.”
In addition, there is good connectivity via several motorways.
The construction start of the property took place in spring this year; Ayka ParX expects completion of the project and the exterior facilities by summer 2026. From September 2026, the user can begin interior fit-out, with commissioning planned for 2027.
Other project participants are Köster Bau as general contractor, the architectural firm k-fünf, and KölnBusiness Economic
