UPS expands healthcare capacity in Asia-Pacific
UPS has made a significant expansion to its healthcare supply chain business in the Asia-Pacific region, opening three new facilities. The company has opened three new facilities dedicated to the healthcare field – two in China, in Hangzhou and Shanghai, as well as one in Sydney, Australia.
The new facilities add nearly 35,000 square metres of space to UPS’s healthcare capacity, bringing its total close to half a million square metres with the 36 facilities it now has around the globe.
The company opened a healthcare facility in Singapore in 2011, which will work with the new facilities to serve both multinational and regional healthcare manufacturers in the Asia Pacific region.
Memphis-based UPS said increased globalisation was driving healthcare consumption in emerging markets.
Bill Hook, the UPS vice president of global strategy, said Asia was the company’s fastest-growing market for healthcare, particularly in China.
“A growing demand for acute and chronic care has driven the need for reliable, flexible and compliant supply chains to serve a highly dynamic market,” Hook explained.
“Healthcare is a major focus area for UPS, and we are committed to continuing investments in Asia and other parts of the world timed with – and often ahead of – market demand to support out clients’ growth strategies in key regions.”
Facilities
Of the three new facilities, the facility in Hangzhou, a core city of the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China, is by far the largest. It offers 22,000 square metres of validated healthcare distribution space designed to support the increasing number of pharmaceutical companies locating their manufacturing operations in China.
The new Shanghai facility within the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone provides 7,575 square metres of capacity close to one of the largest consumer markets for healthcare products. UPS said the facility was close to the UPS International Air Hub in Shanghai, allowing it to be used in an integrated supply chain system for the healthcare market.
The new facility in Sydney offers 5,388 square metres of dedicated healthcare distribution space, important with various multinational and regional companies looking to set up in Australia’s largest city to serve region markets.
Craig Foster, the UPS Asia Pacific Region senior vice president of Supply Chain and Healthcare Logistics, said: “The three new facilities, along with our existing Singapore facility are strategically located across key, growing healthcare markets in Asia Pacific and are targeted to support our clients as they grow in their business.”
