DHL and Singapore Management University launch Green Lab

DHL has launched a new sustainable logistics research facility in a new partnership with the Singapore Management University (SMU). In a bid to accelerate the evolution of sustainable logistics across Asia Pacific the logistics company has released the Green Transformation Lab, a S$2million initiative which will be hosted at the SMU School of Information Systems on the University’s city campus.

Opening in May 2013, the Green Transformation Lab will have two full time directors – Mr Stephan Schablinski from DHL will serve as Director. Ms Kar Way Tan from SMU will serve as Academic Director. The Lab research will focus on the creation of innovative solutions to help organisations transform their businesses towards sustainable green growth and drive beneficial change in supply chains across the region, with the aim to fulfil its mission through education, research and best practice development.

Mr Bruce Edwards, Global CEO, DHL Supply Chain, said: “DHL has long recognized the need for supply chains in Asia Pacific to adopt more sustainable logistics models. Green momentum is growing amongst policy makers, companies and consumers but more can be done to spearhead the application of Green solutions throughout the supply chain. The Green Transformation Lab will help these organisations move beyond measuring and planning by creating more sustainable solutions for companies and supply chains that lead to large-scale adoption and subsequent economies of scale. We’ll achieve this by leveraging SMU’s multi-faculty academic excellence, DHL’s GOGREEN sustainability services and our expertise and capability in supply chains. DHL is committed to creating a more sustainable world today for the benefit of tomorrow.”

The fact that logistics costs as a percentage of GDP are significantly higher in Asia Pacific than in the US and Europe*, calls for more sustainable logistics operations and makes it a real catalyst to sustainable, economic growth. Singapore’s position as one of the world’s biggest logistics hubs and its prospect of developing into a mega city with more than 6 million residents by 2017 means supply chain sustainability is vital to Singapore’s continued economic success, as the value of merchandise imports and exports is three times greater than Singapore’s GDP (Source: World Bank).

Professor Arnoud De Meyer, SMU President, said, “Singapore is a regional hub for supply chain management and this puts us in a unique position when it comes to finding solutions for tomorrow’s world. We possess the knowledge and are able to provide a conducive environment for generating ideas and solutions that are vendor-neutral and interdisciplinary to help companies steer a green transformation of their business. SMU’s strength in information systems, operations and risk management, business strategies, law, economics and social sciences, allied to DHL’s global leadership in logistics, is a powerful combination. We are confident that the outcome of our collaboration with DHL will be transformational thought-leadership and practical tools that Asia can use to evolve green supply chains that will contribute significantly to the long-term business growth of the region with Singapore as the driver.”