DHL launched its Asia Pacific Innovation Centre (APIC) in Singapore to offer a visionary view of the logistics world, and develop innovative solutions to meet evolving supply chain needs. The multi-million dollar facility is DHL’s first innovation centre outside of Germany and the first dedicated centre for innovative logistics services in the Asia Pacific region. The centre is located within the S$160 million (US$113 million) DHL Supply Chain Advanced Regional Centre (ARC) building at Singapore’s Tampines LogisPark.
Bill Meahl, chief commercial officer, DHL, said: “With our emerging markets expected to generate 30 per cent of DHL’s global revenue by 2020, our sustained industry leadership demands that we successfully differentiate our services in these markets through well-calculated forays into new technologies, processes, and products.
“The launch of the APIC in Singapore is a natural step to maintain our lead as a frontrunner in innovation, following the success of our first center in Germany. Singapore’s position as an innovation hub, its excellent infrastructure and sophisticated workforce make it an excellent base from which we can achieve strong and consistent growth in the region.”
Value adding in the logistics industry
Launched with the support of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), the APIC showcases futuristic technologies that will transform logistics operations. These include augmented reality ‘smart glasses’ for warehouse assembly-lines and product picking; drones for delivery of time-critical goods like medicines; maintenance on demand (MoDe) vehicles that use machine-to-machine (M2M) sensors to boost vehicle uptime by 30 per cent; and driverless shuttles for faster, more efficient transportation.
Besides showcasing the latest in logistics trends and innovative solutions, APIC serves as a regional platform for collaborative innovation between DHL, customers, industry partners, and independent experts. The centre will drive DHL’s Trend Research initiatives focusing on emerging trends in Asian logistics and economic activity.
Pang Mei Yee, vice president, innovation, solution delivery & service management, Asia Pacific, DHL said: “APIC is an integral part of our ambition to be at the forefront of innovation in logistics. The center in Singapore will serve the needs of the Asian market, and enhance the delivery of our customer promise to provide sustainable solutions that simplify their lives. Besides providing a platform for research, experimentation and exchange of best practices, we hope to yield many customer-centric innovations that will add to our customers’ success.”
The Singapore center is modelled after DHL’s first innovation center in Germany, which has been highly successful and re-launched with a brand new look earlier this year. Besides providing a second customer-centric innovation platform that caters to the Asian market, APIC will also invest in capabilities in analytics, e-commerce and last mile solutions for Asia Pacific markets.
