Synagie, the leading Southeast Asian digital commerce enabler, is strengthening its regional logistics presence to help businesses meet the challenges of digital commerce by doubling down on its effort to expand its warehousing and fulfillment capabilities as well as its cross-border network.
The well-documented boom of the e-commerce industry over the past three years in Southeast Asia has hastened the growth of the industry and led to heightened consumer expectations for fast and free delivery, adding significant pressures, complexities and costs for brands and sellers across the region. To help brands cope, Synagie will focus on expanding its warehousing and fulfillment capabilities to ensure sustainable growth.
Spearheading this logistics expansion and transformation will be Synagie’s newly appointed Chief Logistic Officer – Tony Kuik. Kuik brings with him over 15 years of experience in driving digitalisation and growth across Southeast Asia for major logistics players such as DHL, TNT Worldwide, and Singapore Post Limited.
Most recently, he was the Country General Manager for S.F Express, where he was instrumental in planning and strategising the roadmap for the country. At Synagie, Kuik’s role will be crucial to ensuring the adoption of technology to streamline and optimise its supply chain, expand its network of partners and drive the creation of sustainable fulfilment centres across the region.
One of the digital enhancements Kuik will lead is integrating Order and Warehouse Management Systems with Synagie’s new in-house propriety system, Synagie 2.0. This will allow partners to achieve real-time, secure and robust one-view visualisation, tracking and reporting to facilitate inventory forecasting and planning.
The insights from Synagie 2.0 will help brands cope with the increased frequency of supply chain disruption and better manage the region’s fragmented logistics network to achieve operations excellence. The integrated platform will also help brand partners maximise business leads while identifying opportunities to maximise efficiency and reduce costs.
Further, Synagie will be looking into the use of automation and deep tech to enhance its fulfilment capabilities. Innovations such as using robots and drones, wearables, automated guided vehicles, voice-controlled solutions, and AI and machine learning will be explored to add sustainable and enhanced value for consumers in the ecommerce value chain.
Under Kuik’s leadership, Synagie will continue adding more value-add services to its suite of end-to-end fulfilment services, which already include procurement and sourcing, supply chain inventory planning and management, direct-to-consumer cross-docking and customised brand staging and concierge services.
For cross-border, on top of its robust inter Southeast Asia trade lanes and at-origin or at-destination warehousing options, Synagie will provide other services such as Importer on Record (IOR) and product registration, local customs clearance, as well as domestic in-land services such as last-mile delivery and stores distribution which often requires in-market knowledge and networks.
As part of the transformation, Synagie will also be working towards the 2025 goal of ensuring all of its fulfilment centres are ‘green’, in line with its goal of helping the ecosystem achieve a better, greener future. This will be in addition to their current commitment to ensuring all fulfilment centres in the region offer green packaging by the end of 2023.
Each of its ‘green’ fulfilment centres will be made to minimise energy consumption through intelligent design and configuration of facilities to ensure maximum light, energy-saving LED lights and temperature control through thermostats and horticulture.
Commenting on his appointment, Tony Kuik, Chief Logistics Offer, Synagie, said: “The global supply chain disruption poses a significant challenge to all industries, especially for the ecommerce industry. A good e-logistics partner of the future, especially in Southeast Asia, is one who has the adequate scale and is agile and adaptable, championing ‘best-fitted operations’ instead of ‘one-size fits all’.
“I am looking forward to driving change at Synagie and ensuring that we provide our brand partners with the best-in-class end-to-end value chain in line with the differing needs of markets, channels and businesses.”
Ms Olive Tai, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Synagie, said, “We are excited to have Tony on board to help drive our growth and transformation. We believe that with his deep industry knowledge, he will be able to help Synagie and our brand partners enhance their supply value chain and enable the industry as a whole to achieve a more sustainable digital commerce ecosystem.”
