UPS expands global healthcare distribution network

UPS is responding to “rapid growth” in demand for outsourced healthcare logistics with new distribution facilities in Asia, Europe and North America. The company said today that its new dedicated healthcare facilities in Singapore, the Netherlands, Canada and the US would bring its total number around the world to 30.

The investment would bring the total amount of UPS distribution space dedicated to healthcare logistics to more than four million square feet, it said.

UPS said its healthcare locations were specifically tailored to meet the needs of pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, meeting stringent regulatory requirements for healthcare products.

The company said its systems include temperature-sensitive capabilities to handle the particular storage and handling requirements for an “influx” of biological and temperature-sensitive products.

Bill Hook, vice president of global strategy at UPS Healthcare Logistics, said his company had a “robust pipeline” of healthcare business and was continuing to invest to meet the fast-evolving needs of its global healthcare customers.

He said: “We are seeing increased demand from healthcare manufacturers wanting more agile supply chains. This clear industry trend is driving companies to look for more global solutions and deeper supply chain partnerships.”

The new healthcare facilities are all located close to airport facilities to provide access to both air and road networks.

In North America, UPS is set to open a new 177,000-square-foot healthcare facility at its logistics campus in Burlington, Ontario, in the second quarter of 2011. Later in the year, a new 144,000-square-foot facility will open at its healthcare campus in Louisville, Kentucky, where the company already has two healthcare facilities close to its Worldport global air hub.

With more healthcare companies setting up operations in Asia, UPS said its new 43,000 square-foot regional distribution facility in Singapore will serve as a strategically-located import-export facility, opening later in the first quarter of 2011.

The largest of the new UPS healthcare facilities will be its 245,000 square-foot building in Venlo, the company’s second location in The Netherlands. Its first Dutch facility, at Roermond, sold to capacity in less than nine months, the company said, “demonstrating a surge in demand for healthcare distribution services in Europe”.