DHL has opened an Asia Pacific Packaging Center in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. The venture was launched to tap into the growing packaging market in Asia Pacific, now worth up to $12.5bn, according to DHL. The company forecasts 15-percent annual growth in that business over the next three years. The new center houses four packaging rooms, including two dedicated and two multi-user, both compliant with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. The facility offers 20 packing lines which can handle 60 million pieces per year; each is equipped with modern packaging technology, including electric and gravity conveyors, stretch-wrapping tunnels, semi-automated carton sealers and labeling guns. Customers can check on the status of their goods on a real-time basis, via an in-house packaging productivity monitoring system. By logging on to a web site, they can acquire full visibility as to what percentage of their goods have been packaged. DHL has plans to establish six more centers in the Asia Pacific region by 2012.
In another company announcement, DHL has launched guaranteed weekly direct less-than-containerload (LCL) services from Bangkok, Thailand to Los Angeles, Hamburg (Germany) and Tokyo. Using Danmar Lines, DHL's in-house carrier, the new services will enable shipments to arrive at destination up to one week earlier than before, the company said.
