UPS Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) is connecting businesses in Asia Pacific to the rest of the world, with digital logistics technologies as it officially opened the company’s first global innovation centre in Singapore.

UPS said the innovation centre will serve as a testbed for new technologies that can narrow efficiency gaps in supply chains, including those that have yet to be deployed on a large scale, such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR), radio-frequency identification (RFID), and drones.

The facility features specialized zones, including a mock-up of a warehouse for real-time demo of the latest technology, as well as dedicated areas in a real warehouse for hands-on pilot collaborations with customers.

The logistics integrator said it is already testing new innovations with industry partner Geek+, a Chinese tech company that developed the tote-picking robot RoboShuttle® RS-5 that UPS has already deployed in Singapore.

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“Nearly two years of pandemic-related disruptions have led to extensive shifts in the way companies and consumers source and receive goods, as well as sped up long-anticipated trends, such as the adoption of e-commerce and at-home consumption,” said Philippe Gilbert, President, UPS SCS.

“The Asia Pacific Innovation Centre represents our commitment to accelerate the application of emerging digital technologies that reimagine and redefine a new normal for our customers in Asia and across the global supply chain,” he added.

Plans for the Asia Pacific Innovation Centre include collaborating with academia for in-depth supply chain research technology, sharing of industry best practices, and expansion of UPS’s innovation centre to other parts of the world.