CEVA Logistics, one of the world's leading supply chain management companies, has commissioned a new mezzanine at its healthcare regional distribution center (RDC) in Leipzig. CEVA operates the center solely for Medtronic, an international leading manufacturer of medical equipment. The introduction of new product lines to the RDC, as well as higher volumes of the existing product lines, made an extension of capacity necessary, doubling the warehousing space to 14,000 sq m.

In the healthcare center, CEVA is responsible for the distribution of Medtronic medical devices from all its businesses (cardiac surgery, ENT surgery, diabetics, neurology, neurosurgery, spinal surgery, anesthesiology, gastroenterology, urology and orthopedics) to Central and Eastern Europe as well as Israel. The services performed for Medtronic include receipt of inbound goods, inventory management, picking and packaging, outbound products, customs documentation as well as value added services, such as quality control, reverse logistics management and cold storage.

On average 13,000 different products are kept at the site in Leipzig and these are distributed to Medtronic customers in Germany and 25 additional countries. The number of employees has increased to 80, from 65 at the launch of the site in March 2011, and this number is predicted to rise to 120 employees by 2015. An additional conveyor system has been installed in Leipzig, which connects incoming goods with the mezzanine on the upper floor, as well as connecting the collection platform of the mezzanine with the central packaging area on the ground floor.

Sikko Zoer, Vice President, Supply Chain EMEA and Canada at Medtronic, said: Following Medtronic's decision to invest in a newly built distribution center in Leipzig in 2011, this capacity expansion reconfirms the position of our Leipzig distribution center as a main European logistics hub for the healthcare industry. In collaboration with our global partner CEVA, we are growing our capabilities to serve our markets in Germany, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe at a high quality level.

We are pleased to extend our activities with Medtronic in Leipzig, said Dr. Christian Wurst, Managing Director of CEVA in Germany. With our comprehensive process experience, high security standards and our ISO certification for medical products (ISO 13485), we are perfectly positioned to generate added value for Medtronic as a strong and reliable partner and to help them grow while maintaining a strong focus on cost efficiency.

CEVA is continuously extending its global competence in the pharmaceutical field and announced the opening of a City of Pharma in Stradella, Italy in May and ahealthcare hub in Miami, US in August.