Central Asia Air Freight Hub
5th March 2025
Hong Kong is the location of DHL’s main Asian DC, one of three global hubs. David Priestman was given a tour of the recently upgraded express facility.
€377 million is a lot to invest in a distribution centre. DHL have deep pockets and needed a best-in-class operation at Hong Kong’s Chep Lap Kok international airport, with direct access to airside and landside. It is the only dedicated express cargo facility here, offering seamless parcel shipment transfers, processing 45% of intra-Asia shipments and close to 20% of DHL Express’s global shipments. Using this location provides just a maximum 4 hour flight time to major cities in the Asia-Pacific region, with Freeport advantages.
General Manager Samuel Lee (pictured), also a member of the DHL Express Global Hub Steering Committee, has 25 years of experience in logistics. The former General Manager of DHL Express’s South Asia Hub, in his native Singapore, Lee has also advised on the development and commissioning of the company’s hubs in Bangkok and Shanghai. As a matter of interest, UPS’ nearest hub is in Shenzhen, FedEx’s in Guangzhou – both in mainland China.
The Hong Kong DC features auto sorting systems and 40-feet telescopic conveyors for container truck loading and unloading. The induction system to the 8.86km long conveyor belt consolidates multiple lines and feeds items to the auto-sorters and 6-sided scanners (supplied by Sick), then on to the designated tunnel for CT X-ray security scans which detect suspicious content via 3D imaging and smart-rendering functions for precise inspection. This is the first facility in Hong Kong to have CT scanners. There are 880 CCTV cameras as well to provide maximum security and the site has its own 24-hour customs hall.
Samuel Lee
The automated sorters direct parcels to their respective destination slide/shute. In this DC Vanderlande’s ‘Crosssorter’ is used, but DHL deploy Beumer, Fives and Interroll sorters in other warehouse hubs. The final process is for parcel details to be scanned by a member of staff before being packed into a ULD for manoeuvring on caster decks onwards to the aircraft. Having direct access airside enables faster loading. The flight information board informs staff of the cut-off time, while shipment sensor indicators notify them when the shipment slides reach 75% or 100% capacity.
Lee justifiably boasts of the hub’s sustainable features. These include 3450 pieces of solar roof panels, with a total PV generation estimated at 1.7 million kWh annually and meaning that the DC has excess electricity. The battery energy storage system (BESS) acts as an energy buffer for optimisation of the solar energy usage and peak load shifting. 100% of the forklifts used are electric, all lights are LED and there are high-efficiency air-cooled chillers near the picking stations. “All our warehouses will be carbon neutral, including older facilities, by 2030,” Lee informed me. This ties-in with DHL’s last-mile delivery target of having 60% of its fleet electric by the same deadline.
Staff safety and well being is paramount here, Lee emphasises. There is a safety committee, regular drills, health checks and programmes for all staff. There are 670 employees here currently and their happiness is central to the culture Lee is cultivating at this site. The DC was calmy quiet when I attended, on an early weekday evening, but gets very busy as the clock ticks down to night flight departures. DHL flies to Leipzig more than other European destinations, as this is the European hub.
After the latest expansion, completed in 2023, the DC, which operates across three floors, can handle six times more in terms of shipment volume than when it was first established in 2004, with a total area now of 49,500 sq.m. The capacity total volume management is now over 1 million tonnes per annum. Bridges provide walkways between the buildings, so as to create synergy.
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