DHL invests $50m in warehouse facility

JAKARTA. PT DHL Exel Supply Chain Indonesia, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL, plans to spend ¤40 million (US$49.96 million) in the country over the next five years to tap into the growing logistics market.

DHL Indonesia managing director Abdul Rahim Tahir said that the investment would be used to open new multiuser warehouses in Cililitan, Jakarta; Cimanggis, West Java; Cikarang, West Java; Surabaya, East Java; and Medan, North Sumatra.

“Indonesia is an emerging market for logistics because the country enjoys strong economic performance. Thus, we want to capture the demand growth by improving our service to our customers,” Abdul said on the sidelines of the Cililitan warehouse launch in East Jakarta.

According to research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, Indonesia’s logistics industry is predicted to experience double-digit growth at 14.2 percent, climbing to Rp 1.4 trillion this year.

“After [the Cililitan warehouse], we plan to launch the Cimanggis warehouse in October because demand keeps increasing,” he said.

Besides implementing cutting-edge technology to help support their logistics system, each warehouse would also have trucks, vans and motorcycles to transport the goods.

The German-based company planned to set up the similar facilities in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan and Makassar, South Sulawesi to penetrate the eastern Indonesia market beyond 2015, he said.

“In the next three to four years, Indonesia is going to be one of the top markets, competing with Singapore and Thailand in the logistics industry,” he added.

DHL Indonesia opened on Wednesday their newest multiuser warehouse in Cililitan that was designed to serve customers in the technology industry sector.

With a total investment of US$2.3 million, the 17,000-square-meter warehouse was an important addition to DHL Indonesia’s business.

“The launch of this new multi-user warehouse is part of an ongoing plan to improve our existing network of facilities in Indonesia to meet the increased demand for our services,” said Oscar de Bok, DHL’s South and Southeast Asia supply chain CEO.

With the new multiuser warehouse in place, handling capacity and operational efficiency would improve by 20 percent, he said.

The warehouse also has a fleet of 100 vehicles, consisting of 60 vans, 10 trucks and 30 motorcycles.

The new system will help accelerate delivery time to customers with expected monthly volume capacity reaching 75,000 packages of mostly automotive and electronic spare parts, he said.

As of today, DHL has 6 multiuser warehouses and 70 field locations to support their Service Part Logistics program across the country.

Earlier this year, the company launched a technical services solution program to support the needs of their pre-sales and after-sales business segments. (The Jakarta Post)