The world's largest package delivery company said it expects to spend $100 million to build facilities in Venlo, the Netherlands; Burlington, Canada; Louisville, Kentucky, as well as its first healthcare center in Singapore.
"Healthcare is our fastest-growing industry segment, so clearly it's a priority," said Bill Hook, vice president of global strategy, UPS Healthcare Logistics. The centers are designed to help manufacturers meet stringent regulatory and temperature requirements for healthcare products, the company said. The Atlanta-based company expects to add about 1,000 healthcare-related jobs over the next few years, he said.
"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," Hook said.
UPS has expanded its healthcare distribution space by 100 percent in the last six years and plans to keep growing, driven partly by an increasing trend toward outsourcing, he said.
The company has 30 global healthcare-dedicated facilities including these four new additions, with more than 4 million square feet.
The Singapore facility is due to open later in the first quarter, and will serve a growing number of healthcare companies locating manufacturing operations in Asia, UPS said.
The Venlo center is expected to open in the second quarter and will be the second UPS location in the Netherlands.
Burlington will be the 10th UPS healthcare facility in Canada and is set to open in the second quarter. The Louisville facility, part of the company's existing healthcare campus there, is set to open in the fourth quarter. (Reuters)
