Singapore Post Limited (“SingPost”) announced the launch of its Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub (“eComm Log Hub”) located at the Tampines Logistics Park. The S$182 million facility is SingPost’s largest eCommerce logistics investment in Singapore to date.
The eComm Log Hub is officially opened by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
SingPost’s eComm Log Hub is a three-storey facility housing two warehousing floors, 150 simultaneous loading bays as well as an office block. The ground floor of the building houses a fully automated parcel sorting facility with a capacity of up to 100,000 parcels a day, and end-to-end sorting, shipping and returns management capabilities that enable quicker order fulfilment. The total built-up area is 553,000 square feet.
Automation plays a big part in the eComm Log Hub – beyond the fully automated parcel sorting system on the first floor of the facility, the second floor warehouse is also automated, resulting in the entire eComm Log Hub being integrated end-to-end from the eCommerce front-end platform to delivery. The eComm Log Hub will process parcels for delivery within Singapore and those to be shipped to destinations worldwide.
Said Mr Chua Taik Him, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of IE Singapore, “IE Singapore has been working closely with SingPost on strategies to scale its business in the region, facilitating its projects and partnerships with both brand owners and last mile fulfilment players. Given the strong growth of eCommerce in Southeast Asia, the launch of SingPost’s facility will further support its local and overseas growth. This will also enhance Singapore’s capabilities in fulfilment and facilitate more regional eCommerce trade flows.”
The Management Team of Sephora Asia said, “This October, SingPost has begun providing us with warehousing services in Australia to handle our beauty and fragrance products. At Sephora, we believe in giving our customers a great end-to-end experience from the time they log in to the moment they receive their purchases. SingPost’s support is critical to delivering that flawless customer experience. With their new eCommerce Log Hub and great solutions like POPStations, we recognise that SingPost is propelling the eCommerce industry forward. We have found SingPost’s professionals to be very conscious of accuracy, cost and service quality.”
Mr Simon Israel, SingPost’s Chairman, said, “The opening of our Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub is another milestone in the expansion of SingPost’s eCommerce logistics network, which now spans 19 markets across Asia Pacific, Europe and the US. Singapore’s regional connectivity makes it ideally positioned to be a centre for eCommerce. Our Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub leverages on this geographic and infrastructural advantage. Everything in this building is scalable, which means we can keep upgrading it to meet the needs of the future.”
He added, “With the Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub, our POPStation network and our investments into technologies for new postal and logistics solutions, we are prepared for a sustainable future of car-lite cities and the sharing economy. SingPost is therefore able to shape and play a broader role in how urban logistics is done in Singapore.”
SingPost’s Centre of Innovation
At the opening ceremony, SingPost also launched its Centre of Innovation (“COI”).
The COI was set up in August 2015, with support from the Economic Development Board, to carry out research into new logistics and postal services and products, in collaboration with research institutions and institutions of higher learning.
Emphasis will be placed on new technologies such as robotics and automation to meet the needs of future customers and markets as well as becoming the tools for SingPost’s next generation of employees.
Some initiatives now being carried out by the SingPost COI are:
Deliver significant enhancements to the eCommerce logistics platform which will help support the smart logistics and smart nation initiative;
Roll out a new version of the Self-service Automated Machine (SAM) platform to enhance customer experience and provide a seamless omni-channel experience encompassing the kiosk and the digital postal office;
Bring the online and offline world of retail shopping to the SingPost mall, which will provide exciting merchant offerings and delivery options to the customer. Retail merchants will be able to experiment with unique ways of interacting with customers to boost revenue and increase loyalty;
A digital transformation of the post office to provide customers options to transact with greater ease and pace; and
Innovate last mile delivery options through building the next generation of POPStations and experimenting with drone delivery across the island.