The FINANCIAL — At the same time when DHL Express announced the opening of two new state-of-the-art gateways the company has won five awards at the 2009 Asian Freight & Supply Chain Awards (AFSCA).
The awards reconfirm the strength of the DHL brand, its service excellence and DHL's market-leading position in Asia. Announced at a ceremony in Hong Kong on April 22, the company was named Best Express Operator, Best Road Haulier Asia, Best Contract Logistics Provider, Best 3PL and Best Lead Logistics Provider. The AFSCA are organized by Cargonews Asia, one of the leading freight industry publications in Asia Pacific.
"The two new gateways, the DHL Express Taipei Gateway at Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan and the DHL Express Incheon Gateway at Incheon International Airport, South Korea, are equipped with most-advanced technology, which will help DHL further increase operational efficiency and enhance service quality as well as flexibility in express services," DHL announced.
Building the new Taipei Gateway, DHL has invested US$ 6.2 million. The facility measures 13,500 sqm, which is four times bigger than the previous site. Shipment-handling capacity will be tripled, from 3,600 to 11,000 pieces per hour. In addition, Taipei Gateway is the only express gateway in Taiwan that houses a 24-hour Drop-Off Centre. As a result, here the drop-off cut-off time can be extended for up to two hours.
The Incheon Gateway, too, sets new industry benchmarks: An US $50 million investment, the 20,000 sqm facility includes a fully automated sorting system for parcels, ensuring a fivefold increase of the distribution volume compared with the previous facility. With automatic weight-measuring and X-ray devices a maximum capacity for the sorting of 13,500 pieces per hour can be achieved. An embedded six-camera sorting system captures the weight and size of each shipment, transmitting the data to the Shipment Control Library. At the same time, air waybill details are recorded in the sorting system. This Gateway will serve as a consolidation and distribution center from South Korea to markets such as Mongolia, northern China and the Russian Far East. Moreover, it will serve as the intercontinental link to USA and Europe.
To ensure high flexibility for the expected growth in volumes DHL today also added a new Boeing 747-400F aircraft to service its vital Singapore – Hong Kong route through Air Hong Kong, a joint venture between Cathay Pacific and DHL. The 110 ton Boeing freighter will operate between both cities six days a week, more than doubling capacity on the Singapore – Hong Kong route, an important link for intra-Asian trade.
This further expansion of the largest network in South-East Asia enables DHL as the market-leading company to continue to provide best-in-class service solutions for customers across 42 countries and territories. It even allows major Asia Pacific cities and other business centers to be interconnected through DHL's regional hubs and gateways, providing customers with overnight services across the region.
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