MUNSTER, Germany - BASF Coatings AG announced the formal opening of the company's new Distribution Center in Munster, a facility described by BASF Coatings CEO Berthold Tillmann as "an extremely important and effective node in our European production and distribution network."

The company said it invested approximately 20 million euros in the facility, which Tillmann called a "unique technological masterpiece." BASF said the distribution center features a fully automated, high-stack warehouse system and continuous inertization technology that is designed to protect the building from fire around the clock. Nitrogen is pumped into the high-stack section of the facility to reduce oxygen concentrations as a fire-prevention mechanism.