The facility is nearly fully automated with even the carts being wire-guided.
Expanding the company’s headquarters, Digi-Key Electronics, celebrated the ribbon cutting of its Product Distribution Center expansion (PDCe). This expansion of more than 2.2 million square feet results in a combined total of more than 3 million square feet for the company.
Picking, packing and shipping is likely to increase three times when compared to the previous daily average (27,000 packages). This facility elevates Digi-Key to being one of the 10 largest warehouses in North America.
The official cutting of tape from a Digi-Reel and ceremonial first package handoffs to each of the company’s four carrier partners (DHL, FedEx, UPS and USPS) was done.
Dave Doherty, President of the company along with Steve Grove Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Commissioner, gave their remarks apart from the video messages from the U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
“This is a significant milestone for all Digi-Key employees and our community,” said Dave Doherty, president of Digi-Key. “Our new product distribution center expansion will help us continue to deliver excellence to our customers for many years to come. As exciting as this expansion is for us, our hope is that our customers truly don’t notice a difference – the transition for them should be seamless, and if anything, result in an even better customer service experience than they are already accustomed to. For us, it’s deeper roots in Thief River Falls and a commitment to continue investing in this community and the state of Minnesota.”
The PDCe building was designed by Minnesota-based Widseth, and McShane Construction served as general contractor on the project. KNAPP, a leader in warehouse logistics and automation, partnered with Digi-Key on the internal automation and operational equipment.
“The state of Minnesota is thrilled to celebrate Digi-Key’s growth milestone today,” said Steve Grove, commissioner of Minnesota DEED. “Growth at this level is a win for the employees of Digi-Key, it’s a win for the Thief River Falls community and it’s a win for the state of Minnesota. The opening of this facility is made possible by local and state economic support which will contribute an additional $500 million in economic output, as well as the addition of more than 1,000 new jobs.”
