SINGAPORE (Oct 18): DHL Express on Tuesday launched its new South Asia Hub located in Changi Airfreight Centre at Singapore’s Changi Airport.

The new facility is a 24-hour express hub which is 33% larger than the previous one, and at S$140 million, is the largest investment the company has made in Singapore to date. The facility is also home to the industry’s first fully automated express parcel sorting and processing system in South Asia.

Aside from handling growing shipment volumes, some export shipments can bypass the service centre and be sent straight to the hub, streamlining operations by reducing travel and handling times.

Our investment in the DHL South Asia Hub is the most recent in a series of global network investments made, and is the largest infrastructural investment made in Singapore to date,” says Ken Allen, chief executive officer, DHL Express.

“The country’s strategic location not only boosts our operational network capabilities, but also supports growing trade in the region aided by a stronger global economy,” he adds.

Increased efficiency can be achieved from improved sorting speed and accuracy of the automated system, such as the automated X-ray machines that scan packages up to three times faster than previous systems.

“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 processes shipments six times faster as compared the manual operations in the previous hub,” says Frank-Uwe Ungerer, senior vice president and managing director, DHL Express Singapore.

“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,” he adds.

In addition, the hub is also powered partially by solar energy, which provides up to 20% of the total energy consumption. The automation now allows employees to concentrate on higher value tasks such as risk mitigation to prevent shipment delays, issues management and security inspections.

“The opening of this hub is a significant milestone in our close partnership with DHL Express, and a major development in our journey of growing the air cargo hub at Changi Airport,” says Lee Seow Hiang, chief executive officer, Changi Airport Group.

“With the capacity to handle more items through smarter design and a higher level of automation, this landmark facility is a much-valued boost to the express cargo handling capabilities at Changi,” he adds.