ePost moves to bigger facility at O’Hare

International shipping and logistics specialist ePost Global has moved to a 104,000 square ft facility in Itasca, near Chicago O’Hare International Airport

The new site has nearly three times the previous ePost facility’s footprint and, ePost said, the expansion “addresses [its] rapid growth in the region”.

ePost Global’s largest US processing operation for both ecommerce parcels and mail, the expanded facility “strengthens the company’s ability to accommodate additional customers, a broader range of shipment profiles and continued growth in international shipping volumes”, it said in a statement.

The larger footprint also provides greater flexibility to scale operations during peak periods and times of network disruption, it noted.

The expansion comes as ePost Global prepares for what it thinks will be its busiest peak season to date.

Sustained growth in customers and shipping volumes had pushed the company’s previous Chicago-area operation to capacity, creating the need – it said – for a larger, more advanced facility designed to support continued growth.

Kelly Martinez, co-president of ePost Global, explained: “Chicago has become our highest-volume US operation, and we reached the point where demand was outgrowing the space.

“Coming off a record year, we’re on track for another record peak season for ePost Global. This [expansion] gives us the capacity to innovate, scale our operations, and deliver the flexibility and reliability our customers need.”

Broadening coverage

As well as increasing overall handling capacity, the expanded operation in Chicago will allow ePost Global to process a broader range of shipment profiles, including small parcels, poly mailers and larger packages.

The additional space and throughput will also provide greater flexibility during seasonal surges and periods of network disruption, when capacity across shipping networks is under the greatest strain.

Fabrizio Alvear, co-founder and co-president of ePost Global, observed: “When e-commerce brands and retailers are growing, their shipping partner needs to be ready to grow with them.

“We are investing ahead of demand so we can accept more volume without imposing artificial limits when capacity matters most.

“This facility gives us room to serve customers through the coming peak season and continue scaling well beyond it.”

The ePost operation at the new facility combines automated sortation with advanced scanning and tracking, optical character recognition and piece-to-container verification.

Together, these capabilities enable the identification of exceptions in real time, improve sort accuracy, reduce repeat scanning and manual handling, and allow more shipments to move directly from induction into the correct outbound container to destination hubs around the world.