Read my latest Blog - Singapore: How to transform supply chains and get logistics fit for the future
Companies face great challenges to adapt supply chains to meet latest customer expectations. What can governments do to support? Singapore leads by example.
Have you tried Amazon’s Prime service? Order now and your purchases will be delivered to your door within 2 hours, free-of-charge. In Singapore, this service was launched in July and by now, most of the initial start-up issues have been ironed out.
I ordered an electrical toothbrush last month and 1.5 hours later, there was somebody on my doorstep holding an (Amazon-branded) recycle bag with my brand-new device in it. Wow. What an excellent job – and definitely an all-time record in my personal online shopping experience.
Services like these are a direct result of continuously increasing customer expectations that push logistics service providers to improve their lead times. Singapore has built a strong reputation in this area and has been the number one logistics hub in South East Asia for many years now. And the government is not planning on letting go of this top rank position any time soon.
Innovation centers for next generation logistics
Last August, I visited “Supply Chain City”, a S$200 million logistics facility in Singapore. It features the latest automation systems and technologies including RFID, and an automated storage and retrieval system. The center is also a test playground for autonomous vehicles and drones, as well as for augmented and virtual reality systems.
Supply Chain City also houses the community platform Supply Chain Asia (SCA) as well as their recently opened Supply Chain & Logistics Innovation Playground (SCLIP). Visitors of this innovation center get to experience real-life demos and can explore latest logistics and supply chain technologies and solutions.
These projects came to life with the support of government programs that aim to strengthen the regional logistics hub position over the next decade. In a country surrounded by highly competitive high-growth regions including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, etc., it is key to invest in modernizing the logistics sector now to avoid losing ground to markets that benefit from low-cost labor and lots of space to build logistics hubs and other facilities.
How the Little Red Dot manages its challenges
Globally, Singapore is the 4th most expensive country for logistics. The island state is faced with challenges that other countries don’t have to deal with. Through innovation, Singapore has found new ways to master local challenges such as land constraints and costly labor. Read the full Blog here