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DHL’s Asia-Pacific Innovation Centre (APIC) in Singapore, a 6700 square-foot facility in an
industrial zone, introduces the futuristic world
of logistics.
A first of its kind in Asia-Pacific, this $7 million facility is DHL’s first innovation center dedicated to innovative logistics services in the Asia-Pacific region. Launched with the support of the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore, the APIC showcases futuristic technologies likely to transform logistics operations.
The center features exhibits that showcase the future of automation and robotics, augmented reality, unmanned aerial vehicles, self-driving vehicles and maintenance on demand.
APIC is divided into four core areas of focus:
- A high tech display showcasing the trend of automation and robotics in the future of working;
- A Solution Sphere where visitors can experience the full range of Deutsche Post DHL Group capabilities, such as parcel lockers, sensor technology and warehouse pick and pack using voice and lighting technologies;
- A Trend Curve, which highlights future trends and their applications for the logistics industry; and
- A Vision Wall, which enables visitors to
discover inspirational scenarios on what the world of logistics might look like in the year 2050.
Hailing the launch of APIC, Lee Eng Keat, director, logistics and natural resources at Singapore’s EDB, said at the time: "The launch of the APIC is another important step towards enhancing Singapore’s
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value-adding role in the realm of global supply chain solutions."
"The innovation agenda is not a new one for DHL," said Mei Pang, vice-president, innovation, solution delivery and service management at DHL customer solutions and innovation in Asia-Pacific. "From an operational point of view, DHL has always known to come out with new things," Pang told Computer Weekly.
"We have many ready-to-pilot ideas from the Germany-based innovation center to be deployed in Asia," she said. "One key focus of the team here is to look at technologies that are applicable to the Asian market and promote ways of doing proof of concepts with customers here. That has been working very well, with a lot of interest from Asian stakeholders."
Pang revealed that the most discussed topic with Asian stakeholders at APIC is collaborative robotics. They are looking for ways to deploy robotics technology in markets where there is a lot of focus on productivity improvements and high labor costs. Countries such as Singapore, Australia and Japan are natural markets for such technologies.
Talking of drones, Pang said it is a very interesting topic that everyone is generally looking at. For example, in Germany, DHL has experimented with drones for delivery of time-critical goods like medicines.
"For us in Asia, this is a slow burner," she added. "There is a lot of discussion around what pilots we can do with drones, but from a commercial business standpoint we see quite a long journey ahead because of regulatory, safety, security and privacy questions."
For more of the Computer Weekly story: www.computerweekly.com
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