DHL launches Asia Pacific Innovation Center
DHL has launched its Asia Pacific Innovation Center (APIC) in Singapore. The APIC, which is DHL’s first innovation centre outside of Germany and the first dedicated centre for innovative logistics services in the Asia Pacific region, is located within the DHL Supply Chain Advanced Regional Center (ARC) building at Singapore’s Tampines LogisPark.
“I believe innovative ideas are key for our future success. Our focus on customer-centric innovations and the development of products and services that our customers need most, will help us to remain the logistics leader”, said Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL Group. “By analyzing social, business and technology trends, and converting our innovations into marketable solutions, we will make our customers more successful.”
Launched with the support of the Economic Development Board (EDB), the APIC aims to “showcase futuristic technologies that will transform logistics operations”.
In its official statement marking the opening of the APC, DHL said that examples of these technologies include: “smart glasses” for warehouse assembly-lines and product picking; delivery drones; Maintenance on Demand (MoDe) vehicles that use machine-to-machine (M2M) sensors to boost vehicle uptime by 30%; and driverless shuttles.
DHL said that the APIC will also serve as a regional platform for collaborative innovation between the company and its customers, industry partners, and independent experts.
Bill Meahl, Chief Commercial Officer DHL, commented: “With our emerging markets expected to generate 30% 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.”
Visitors to APIC will be able to attend guided tours and the centre will also host innovation-focused workshops and forums.
APIC is modelled on DHL’s first innovation centre in Germany, which was 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.
