In the year 2000, the Government of the Autonomous Community of Arag n, Spain, made public a project for the development of a large-scale logistics park in the outskirts of the city of Zaragoza. With an area of nearly 13 square kilometers, PLAZA (an acronym for Zaragoza Logistics Platform) would be by far the largest logistics park either built or under development in all of Europe. This case illustrates the motivations behind such an undertaking, the reasoning used in deciding the feasibility of the location of the park, and also the advantages (and disadvantages) related to the project. The case provides sufficient data to prepare an analysis from the point of view of a potential customer, where the cost advantage or disadvantage of locating a facility in Zaragoza (with respect to Rotterdam, a preferred European location) can be quantified, and where the parameters can be changed to determine the main drivers behind such a decision, and how changes in these drivers can affect the customer's analysis. The results are meant to serve as input for PLAZA management to understand which types of customers to target, and how to address the issues that could hinder the park's projected growth.
by Noel Watson, Santiago Kraiselburd