Logistics as a strategic factor in the spread of culture and education. This was the message that emerged from the inauguration of Kuehne+Nagel’s new hub dedicated to Gruppo Mondadori in San Giorgio Bigarello, in the Mantua area. The site is set to become Italy’s main logistics centre for the distribution of school books and for supplying bookshops and retail channels operated by the country’s largest publishing group. The new platform represents one of the most important investments made in publishing logistics in recent years and strengthens the partnership between Kuehne+Nagel and Mondadori, turning the supply chain into a competitive tool capable of supporting a market marked by strong seasonal peaks, increasingly tight delivery times and growing integration between physical bookshops and e-commerce.
The facility covers a total area of 37,000 square metres, of which around 30,000 are already operational for Mondadori activities. The building incorporates photovoltaic systems, LED lighting, energy consumption monitoring systems and packaging processes focused on recyclable materials, with reduced use of plastic. Around 180 employees from different generations work at the site, within an organisational model aimed at job stability and the sharing of skills. For Kuehne+Nagel, service quality depends on combining experience, innovation and continuous staff training.
The new site brings together operations that were previously spread across three separate facilities, with the aim of simplifying logistics flows and increasing productivity across the entire distribution chain. The site is organised into two operational areas. The first is dedicated to school publishing: around 16 million books a year will be dispatched from here to schools, teachers and students, with shipments concentrated between May and September, coinciding with the start of the school year. Mondadori holds around 35% of the Italian school textbook market, a share equivalent to one in three pupils studying from one of the group’s books.
The second area, known as Trade, manages distribution to more than 500 Mondadori bookshops, e-commerce and the group’s other customers. Around four million books and more than one million complementary items pass through this area, across a total of 170,000 different stock-keeping units requiring flexible storage and order preparation systems. The coexistence of two different logistics models, the pronounced seasonality of school publishing and the need for fast, continuous deliveries for retail and e-commerce channels require organised processes, qualified staff and technologies capable of handling high volumes without compromising service quality.
Mondadori CEO Antonio Porro stressed that “logistics can no longer be regarded as a simple operating cost, but represents a strategic lever for business development. The availability of a book at the required time is crucial both for the success of the school campaign and for offering bookshop customers an efficient omnichannel experience, allowing them to buy a volume online, collect it in store or receive it quickly at home”. The investment follows the Adidas-dedicated centre opened in the same area two years ago and still in operation, and continues Kuehne+Nagel’s expansion strategy in the Mantua area.
Massimiliano Barberis
