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UPS and Fast Radius to open 3D printing factory in Singapore by year end

By Ng Chong Seng - on 20 Sep 2016, 11:28am

UPS and Fast Radius to open 3D printing factory in Singapore by year end

Package delivery giant United Parcel Services (UPS) has announced that it will be working with direct digital manufacturing (additive manufacturing) provider Fast Radius to open a 3D printing factory in Singapore.

Set to be ready by end of 2016, this 3D printing factory will be hosted in a UPS facility here, and it’s the first 3D printing factory that the two partners are opening outside of the U.S. Back in May, UPS has already launched a distributed, on-demand manufacturing network that links its global logistics network with 3D printers at its UPS Stores in more than 60 locations in the U.S. and Fast Radius’ On Demand Production Platform and 3D printing factory in Louisville, Kentucky.

By expanding this network to Asia, both companies hope to help customers increase their supply chain efficiency with additive (3D) manufacturing. While UPS’ involvement with 3D printing may seem strange at first glance, it’s easy to understand when you consider that 3D printing is widely acknowledge to bring about a major disruption in domains like industrial manufacturing and supply chain solutions. Clearly, UPS wants to be there ahead of other logistics players.

The benefits of 3D printing aside (e.g., enabling high quality prototypes, inventory reduction for slow-moving parts, less costly and shorter production runs), by plugging Fast Radius’ Singapore factory into UPS’ network, this means customers (regardless where they are located) can send their 3D printing orders by 5 PM and have them delivered to most major Asian cities within 24 hours. When the facility opens, orders can be placed either via the Fast Radius website or by visiting the factory located at UPS House at Changi South.

At the same time, UPS is setting up an Advanced Solutions team in Asia to create a Center of Excellence to develop supply chain solutions and promotes wider applicability of 3D printing with customers. Businesses can use the Fast Radius On Demand Production Platform to produce industrial parts, which are expedited for delivery via UPS’s global and intra-Asia transportation network. And in May, UPS and SAP have already agreed to offer a solution that will integrate SAP’s extended supply chain and internet of things solutions with UPS’ additive manufacturing and logistics network.

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