UPS expands global healthcare network with new facilities

10-Jan-2011 - Last updated on 14-Jan-2011 at 13:32 GMT

United Parcel Service (UPS) will open four global healthcare distribution centres to accommodate its fast growing healthcare business and a rising global customer base.

The Atlanta, US-based company said the new units, to be located in Asia, Europe, the US, and Canada, reflect rising demand from healthcare companies and an increasing trend toward outsourcing.

Bill Hook, vp of global strategy at UPS Healthcare Logistics, said: “We are seeing increasing demand from healthcare manufacturers wanting more agile supply chains. This clear industry is driving companies to look for more global solutions and deeper supply chain partnerships.

"We're working with customers not just on transportation and warehousing but in highly strategic partnerships and more tactical initiatives around specific activities such as new product launches," said Hook.

UPS expects to spend $100m on building the facilities in Venlo, the Netherlands; Burlington, Canada; Louisville, Kentucky, as well as its first healthcare centre in Singapore and China.

The firm said the new facilities will cater for pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, and will help manufacturers meet regulatory requirements for healthcare products.

Paying particular attention to these requirements, UPS have added temperature-sensitive capabilities to the healthcare facilities to handle its global customer’s storage and distribution needs of high-value products.

Singapore site first to open

UPS’ healthcare operation in Singapore will be the first of the four to open in the first quarter of this year. The unit will serve as an import-export facility, and will offer cold chain capacity for temperature sensitive products as well as postponement services such as re-labelling and kitting.

Both the Venlo and the Burlington facilities will begin operations in this year’s second quarter, with Burlington specially designed to meet all regulatory compliance and quality assurance (QA) needs of healthcare products.

Last to open in the fourth quarter, the healthcare facility in Louisville will be situated close to UPS’ Worldport global air hub to allow next-day delivery for air shipment orders. UPS said the site is also equipped with temperature sensitive and vault storage capabilities.

The additional sites will bring the number of global UPS healthcare facilities to 30, with a total 4m sq ft of dedicated healthcare distribution space.