This European distribution center with offices will at first offer employment to approximately 100 people, increasing, in phases, to around 225 to 250 (directly AND indirectly) as Samsung has a high growth rate and expects to expand further soon. Therefore, the company has entered into binding agreements for the development of a distribution facility adjacent to the distribution center under construction. The investment involved is estimated around 20 million euro.
Samsung is an obvious asset for the region of West Brabant, once again a success story for the municipality of Breda and a successful acquisition for the regional development agency NV REWIN West-Brabant, together with NFIA (Netherland Foreign Investment Agency) and BOM (Brabant development authority)

Samsung is a worldwide conglomerate with 120,000 employees in total, a yearly turnover of over 62 billion dollars and a net profit of 10,3 billion dollars. The company is an international leader in the field of memory chips, telecommunication, digital media and focalization technology.

In the Netherlands, Samsung ranks among the top-3 cell phone suppliers. Furthermore, Samsung has been the major producer of large LCD-screens for seven years.

Innovation is a central concept for the organization. No less than one-sixth of all employees is active in the research department!

New establishment in Breda

Because of the company’s rapid growth with double digit figures, Samsung wished to establish a large distribution center in the heart of Europe. The Netherlands and Belgium turned out to be attractive possibilities in terms of costs and logistic possibilities. A number of establishment locations were assessed and Breda received high marks, together with Tilburg , Rotterdam , Moerdijk, Venlo , Helmond en Eindhoven . Finally Samsung preferred Breda , based on the favourable geographical location, the right supply of labor and the excellent infrastructure.

The bottleneck however, was that the preferred location on the Beneluxpark in Breda – along the A16, the motorway from Amsterdam to Paris – was just not large enough. In the Van Oord Vastgoed distribution center under construction a maximum of 25,000 m2 surface area could be created, while Samsung anticipated further growth. On these grounds, Samsungs move to Breda was in danger of falling through with the company opting for a different location.
The regional development agency NV REWIN West-Brabant then developed a growth concept. After the approval and very swift cooperation of the Breda city council, a plan was offered in which the owner of the adjacent building, real estate entrepreneur A. Roobol, made his plot available for the expansion of the Samsung distribution center. This concept was subsequently elaborated and became the groundwork for the Samsung relocation scheme.



The plot on the Benelux Park with the distribution center under construction on the right and the expansion location on the left.

Samsungs entire distributionpackage will be taken care of by a logistic service provider, who will be attending to the entire logistic chain; from packing, repacking, assembling, configuring, pricing, labeling, warehouse management, distribution and planning of transportation by land, over water and through the air. Marketing, planning, administration and finance remains with the Samsung corporation.


  
Building under construction                                                 Entrance to the building

The Korean project manager explains the choice for Breda as follows: "After extensive location research in Belgium and the Netherlands, our eye fell on the West Brabant city of Breda . Apart from unmistakable attractive logistic aspects, a favourable cost structure and a large reservoir of labor, the prompt execution of the plans played a major role. The possibility of realizing a short-term extension was, together with the other elements mentioned, of overriding importance. Breda lies in the center of Western Europe¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡­we hit the bull’s eye by opting for Breda".

Alderman drs. Andre Adank, responsible for the Economic Affairs portfolio in the municipality of Breda, surely does not hide the Breda city councils enthousiasm about this electronics giant  coming to Breda. "A financially sound and extraordinarily dynamic company that is worldwide considered the cream of the crop in terms of R&D and innovation. A very prominent and high-quality enterprise with an outstanding track record and excellent growth in a short period of time. Furthermore, Samsung clearly has the resolve to continue this growth, offering the perspective of even more jobs. Samsung has explicitly declared to stay and carry on their enterprise in this town for a long time to come¡­¡­¡­¡­this is simply a stroke of fortune and without exaggerating important to the employment in the West Brabant region. I am pleased that our municipal policy with an extra emphasis and effort in the field of logistic activities (the alderman refers to the "Pieken in de Delta" policy document in which logistic activities are made into one of West Brabants focal points) turns out to be realistic and indeed offers opportunities!!

The regional development agency NV REWIN West-Brabant was glad to assist Samsung in their relocation process, in close cooperation with the Breda city council and its civil service and the NFIA (Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency) and BOM (Brabant development authority). DTZ Zadelhoff was the real estate agent on behalf of Van Oord Vastgoed from Den Bosch.

Breda , november 2006.

NV REWIN West-Brabant.