DB Schenker is investing EUR3 million (US$3.76 million) to establish its first global Solution Competence Centre outside of Europe that will focus on developing, supporting, implementing and managing Production Vendor Managed Inventory (PVMI) solutions and installations for the Electronics and Industrial Manufacturing sectors.

The new Competence Centre to be set up in Singapore will act as a base for numerous supply chain experts to engage with customers. Its specialists will support development of the solution, and accelerate the roll-out of customised manufacturing logistics solutions for customers within Asia, and also other parts of the globe.

"Manufacturing logistics is a strategic and vital segment of businesses and its operations, involving communities of suppliers feeding inventory worth billions in the materials pipeline," said Dr. Detlef Trefzger, as member of the board of Schenker AG responsible for global Contract Logistics and Supply Chain Management as well as Air and Ocean Freight.

"With Asia as one of the most important growth markets exerting significant influence in Manufacturing and driving global trade flows, our new competence centre will serve as an important knowledge base for our customers, to aid them in establishing most effective solutions for their manufacturing supply chain," he said.

The PVMI team is scheduled grow to over 20 specialists to support PVMI installations by 10 per year over the next five years, supporting a planned revenue growth of EUR150 million, a company statement said.