Dubai: Dubai has been chosen as the first city outside of DHL's homebase in Germany to launch its fully automated 24-hour service depots.
Dubai FDI of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in association with DHL Express has launched these service points at five locations around Dubai as part of a pilot project.
"Dubai is a mega city, facing the described challenges of pollution, congestion and inefficiency already. With its fast-paced employment and open minded government, it just was the right location to start this project," said Michaela Rennschmid-Haasee, head of marketing, DHL Solutions and Innovations, Deutsche Post DHL.
Criteria
The service points are in Deira City Centre and Khalid Bin Al Waleed Metro stations, DIFC Building 5, Dubai Internet City Block 11 and the Emarat service station on Al Wasl Road.
The locations have been chosen based on high traffic and proximity to communities of high business volume.
"These automated pick-up and drop-off outlets are completely connected into DHL's international express network. In operation for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, this service offers consumers, individuals, small businesses, large businesses in fact all users the ultimate convenience and flexibility to plug into DHL's global expertise and reach across 220 countries and territories worldwide," said Gary Kemp, managing director of DHL Express, Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
This push for convenience among logistics companies has inspired Obaid Al Qahash, managing director of Kedu, a UAE-based company which focuses on automated services, to launch a similar service called Parzel. The automated booths, which will be functional in a few weeks, can be found in Dubai Marina Mall, DIFC, and Marina Walk, and will allow customers to deliver and collect parcels 24/7. Parzel has said it cannot currently reveal the logistic companies they have partnered with.
Viable alternative
"Over the last two years, we've invested heavily in researching this sector to find a viable, true alternative for the logistics market in the UAE. Our deep knowledge and experience on the ground allows us to offload the technological burden for our partners to streamline the processes," said Obaid Al Qahash, Managing Director of Kedu.
According to Al Qahash, they are planning to increase this number over the next six to 12 months aiming at high-traffic locations.
DHL has been using these services in Germany since 2001. Today there are more than 2,500 service points in Germany with around 1.5 million people making use of them.
Going green
DHL's new service points also come in line with DHL's green strategy. The service points can potentially reduce carbon emission by up to 80 tonnes a year. Once the number of service points has risen, the reduction in carbon is predicted to rise to 280 tonnes a year.
"The logistics sector plays a key role in driving the sustainable growth of Dubai. As the hub for the global logistics, we have already set international best practices in industry, and DHL Service Point 24/7 highlights how competitive economic activity can be successfully interfaced with sustainability especially in areas related to carbon reduction," said Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI.
This follows an initiative led by the DED in 2010, which developed the UAE's first carbon neutral warehouse at Dnata Cargo's FreighGate-5.
