Dive Brief:
- UPS is doubling down on its cross-border capabilities in 2018 and will bring three new international facilities in Paris, Montreal and Eindhoven, Netherlands, a spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive.
- The investments follow last week's opening of a more than 340,000 square-foot package sorting and delivery facility in London, focused on cross-border commerce.
- The £120 million ($161 million) facility is part of a $2 billion European investment program by the company and will serve the entire continent.
Dive Insight:
The European investments are part of a broader strategy by the company to grow what it calls a new "smart global logistics network," to adapt to the greater logistics service demands driven by consumers.
The international facilities will come online with an additional 15 locations set to open this year in the U.S. In sum, the third-party logistics provider (3PL) is investing $7 billion in capital this year to add 5 million square feet of space and "six times more sorting capacity" at a global level, according to the spokesperson.
London's news, for example, mirrors the company's February $41 million investment in a cross-border hub at El Paso, Texas — a 153,000 square-foot facility by the city's airport, capable of serving manufacturing industries in Mexico, as well.
The strategy is more than just new facilities, however. Each new facility will also come equipped with next-generation technology, to enable the "smart" network UPS hopes to have.
"That is the additional layer of the virtual network," the spokesperson said. "The big data element — that is all of the UPS technology infrastructure, our visibility tools, the operations technology, the smart labeling so that at any point in time we know exactly where your package is and if you need to reschedule it, redirect it."
