SINGAPORE (Sept 19): UPS and partner Fast Radius is opening a 3D printing factory in a UPS facility in Singapore by the end of this year.

The move will expanding UPS’s on-demand 3D printing network in Asia and enable customers to increase their supply chain efficiency with additive manufacturing, says the integrated logistics services provider.

UPS also will also create a Centre of Excellence to help customers develop supply chain solutions and promote wider applicability of 3D printing. Businesses can also use Fast Radius’ On Demand Production Platform to produce industrial parts, which will then be delivered via UPS’s global and intra-Asia transportation network.

“3D printing will have a significant impact on industrial manufacturing and 21st Century supply chains,” says Ross McCullough, president of UPS Asia Pacific region. “At UPS, we are embracing disruptive technologies and integrating them into our global logistics network. We believe that much like e-commerce digitised and transformed retail, 3D printing will have a similar impact on manufacturing.”

“UPS is the first integrated logistics provider to establish an on-demand 3D printing manufacturing and logistics network in Asia,” McCullough adds. “This network will help Asia strengthen its position as a manufacturing hub.”

In May, UPS and SAP announced a co-innovation agreement to collaborate on a solution that would integrate SAP’s extended supply chain and internet of things solutions with the UPS additive manufacturing and logistics network, to “connect the manufacturing floor to the customer door.”