UPS Singapore: Business Opportunities in Times of Crisis
The regional distribution centre warehouses of Kaigen Co., Ltd., a Japanese pharmaceutical and medical products company, were damaged in the recent Japan natural disaster. After evaluating the extensive infrastructure damage to their facilities, and the long term need of a stable regional distribution centre location to reach their expanding global markets, Kaigen decided to move their regional warehouses to another location in Asia.
Kaigen’s partnership with UPS helped them to decide to relocate their warehouses to Singapore. As more and more companies choose to establish their regional distribution centres in Singapore, the country is gaining a reputation as an ideal central location for companies to base their regional distribution centres to leverage on Singapore’s multi-modal connectivity, excellent infrastructure, and government incentives for industry. Via Singapore, healthcare companies such as Kaigen have easy access to distributors, hospitals, and clinics in major Asian cities, and can reach more than three billion people in the fastest growing region for the healthcare industry in the world. Moreover, Singapore has specialized capabilities in place that can support the biomedical sciences industry, such as cold chain management technology, full information visibility and quality control, and awareness of regulation requirements for markets in the region; therefore offering an integrated supply chain management solution.
Having a strong understanding of Singapore’s laws and regulationsand licenses that need to be obtained, the right relationships here in the region to facilitate the centre’s setup, and the ease of Singapore practices involved in establishing a regional distribution centre, UPS was able to leverage their capabilities and connections to facilitate the setup of Kaigen’s warehouses in Singapore within the short time of three months; setting an example for other companies considering moving their regional distribution centres to Singapore and demonstrating a clear economic opportunity for Singapore.