SINGAPORE - Express services giant DHL Express has launched a new S$140 million round-the-clock automated facility in Singapore, the DHL South Asia Hub.
This is the company's largest investment in Singapore to date.
The 23,600 sq m facility in Changi Airfreight Centre at Singapore Changi Airport, launched on Tuesday (Oct 18), is outfitted with the industry's first fully automated express parcel sorting and processing system in South Asia.
It will boost DHL's operational capacity while offering speedier deliveries for customers, the company said in a statement.
"The hub allows us to meet customer needs more effectively in this age of an on-demand economy," said Mr Frank-Uwe Ungerer, senior vice-president and managing director of DHL Express Singapore.
"With our fully automated system, the facility processes up to 24,000 shipments and documents per hour and can handle over 628 tonnes of cargo during the peak processing window - tripling our cargo handling capacity and processing shipments six times faster as compared to the manual operations in the previous hub.
"The increased efficiency allows us to look into streamlining our service centre operations in Singapore from end to end, giving our customers even faster deliveries and better business efficiency."
The new hub facility is equipped with automated systems that improve sorting speed and accuracy, multi-dimensional tunnel scanners that accelerate barcode reading, and automated X-ray systems that scan packages up to three times faster than previous systems - all of which will also boost productivity.
It is expected to have a staff headcount of 250 this year.
Mr Kelvin Wong, assistant managing director at the Singapore Economic Development Board, added: "This investment in a state-of-the-art hub facility demonstrates DHL Express' strong commitment to achieve higher productivity and excellence in their operations. Such developments bode well for Singapore as we continue to leverage advanced technologies to augment our workforce and manpower profile, and to grow our air cargo and logistics handling capacity."
