Speech by SMS Teo Ser Luck at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the DHL Supply Chain Advanced Regional Centre at Tampines Logispark

Mr Steve Walker, Chief Information Officer for the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, DHL Supply Chain,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Introduction

It gives me great pleasure to join you today for the groundbreaking ceremony of the DHL Supply Chain Advanced Regional Centre, DHL’s new integrated build-to-suit logistics warehouse facility here at Tampines Logispark.

DHL and Singapore enjoy a partnership that spans over 4 decades. This investment marks yet another milestone in our strong partnership, and shows DHL’s continued confidence in Singapore’s value as its strategic base for regional supply chain operations.

I am happy to note that in addition to boosting DHL’s warehouse capacity in Singapore, the new facility will deploy state-of-the-art automation systems, which will significantly improve productivity and lead to lower cost and higher operational efficiency. 

Singapore as a choice location for logistics companies to partner clients to develop best-in-class solutions and capabilities

This facility will also house Deutsche (pronounced “doy-cher”) Post (DP) DHL’s Asia Pacific Solutions and Innovation Centre, which will be DP DHL’s first satellite innovation centre outside of its global headquarters in Bonn. The innovation centre will allow DHL to conceptualise, develop and pilot new supply chain solutions with its key clients in the region, further enhancing Singapore’s position as a thought-leader in supply chain innovations and applications.

DHL’s new facility joins a rich supply chain eco-system in Singapore that already includes the critical operations of many leading logistics and supply chain companies. This ecosystem is supported by a strong pool of supply chain talent, and a cluster of well-established knowledge partners comprising top consulting firms and research institutes. This strong eco-system enables logistics companies to continually develop innovative solutions to better address their clients’ complex and sophisticated supply chain needs. 

Such innovation also allows logistics companies to devise and deploy state-of-the-art automation solutions that achieve significant land and labour productivity improvements.  For example, DHL partnered Texas Instruments (TI) in 2013 to pioneer Swisslog’s Autostore system for TI’s Global Distribution Centre.  This system has improved the productivity of the centre’s operations by a commendable 40%. 

I am also heartened to hear that DHL will be setting up the world’s first Centre of Excellence in Automation as one of the key innovation pillars within the Asia Pacific Solutions and Innovation Centre. This will allow DHL to drive further improvements in understanding and implementing multi-sector and multi-user automated operations for the logistics industry. 

Singapore is transforming to ensure that our logistics industry remains competitive and future-ready

With the continued rapid growth of Asian economies and the rise of the middle class in Asia, we can expect that demand for logistics services will grow in tandem with the increased supply and demand of goods in the region. With our established position as a leading logistics hub in the region, the logistics industry in Singapore is well-placed to tap upon these growth opportunities. To avoid our limited land and labour resources from hindering their growth potential, logistics companies will need to follow the lead of global champions like DHL in adopting technological solutions to raise their productivity.

On our part, the Government has stepped forward to offer businesses support in their efforts to transform and upgrade their operations for increased productivity. As announced in the Budget speech this year, the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme has been extended by another 3 years, and an enhanced PIC+ (pronounced PIC-plus) has been introduced for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a higher expenditure cap of $600,000 per qualifying activity. In addition, to encourage logistics firms to optimise their land use, the Land Intensification Allowance has been extended to cover the logistics sector.

Beyond supporting industry transformation, the Singapore Government is investing in improving our infrastructure so as to build on and strengthen our position as a leading logistics hub.

The expansion of Pasir Panjang Terminal (PPT) is on track, and the first set of new berths at PPT will be ready later this year. In the longer term, we will consolidate all our container port activities at Tuas Terminal, which will eventually be able to handle 65 million TEUs each year.  The Government has also announced our plans to develop a third runway and add a new Terminal 5 to Changi Airport by the mid-2020s. 

These transformation initiatives will create conducive conditions for Singapore’s logistics industry to rise to new heights, achieving continued growth through high productivity and world-leading supply chain solutions. 

Conclusion

In closing, I would like to once again extend my heartiest congratulations to Mr Walker, the team at DHL Supply Chain and the DP DHL family on the groundbreaking of the DHL Supply Chain Advanced Regional Centre in Singapore. I wish you every success and look forward to the opening of your new facility soon. Thank you.