Alvin Foo, Straits Times 16 Apr 09;
MULTIMEDIA group Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) unveiled a new $5.5 million eco-friendly warehouse at its print centre in Jurong yesterday.
The facility is set to deliver significant cost-savings to the company.
Situated within the premises of South-east Asia's largest single printing site, it was officially opened by SPH chief executive Alan Chan.
He said: 'Newspapers are the core of SPH's business...at a time when companies are cutting back on investments, SPH is positioning itself for the future.'
The new site will eliminate the need for external storage, resulting in cost-savings of about $80,000 per month from rent and logistics, according to SPH assistant vice-president of production Lim Swee Yeow.
Prior to this, SPH's use of outside storage meant that it incurred additional rental, transportation and handling costs.
Mr Chan said: 'We were subjected to fluctuations in rental charges in land-scarce Singapore, which hindered us from stocking our newsprint at an optimal level.'
SPH previously owned a warehouse at Thomson Road, which made way for the District 11 freehold Sky@eleven condominium in 2006.
With this latest addition able to hold up to 9,000 tonnes of newsprint, the SPH Print Centre now boasts three warehouses with a total storage capacity of 36,000 tonnes - or about four months of newsprint supply.
The new warehouse has been designed with the environment in mind and maximises the use of natural lighting and ventilation, thus removing the need for conventional mechanical ventilation ducts.
Mr Chan said: 'These eco-friendly features will reap us cost-savings in terms of electricity usage and maintenance.'
Its green characteristics will lower electricity and maintenance bills by about $5,000 a month, estimated Mr Lim.
He also noted that the price of newsprint had dropped to about US$500 (S$751) a tonne since hitting a peak of US$860 in the third quarter of last year.
Earlier this week, SPH said it had reduced staff costs - its biggest cost category - by 13.6 per cent to $69.4 million in its second quarter ended Feb 28, compared with the same period last year.
It also disclosed a 12.6 per cent slide in quarterly net profits to $87 million, due to the economic downturn which has resulted in businesses cutting back on advertising spending.
New green warehouse a big boost for SPH
Third warehouse brings cost savings, expands newsprint storage capacity
NIsha Ramchandani, Business Times 16 Apr 09;
SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) expects to enjoy significant savings from its new $5.5 million eco-friendly warehouse.
'At a time when companies are cutting back on investments, SPH is positioning itself for the future,' CEO Alan Chan said at the official opening yesterday.
According to SPH's assistant vice-president of engineering (production department) Lim Swee Yeow, about $80,000 a month will be saved on rent and transport, as SPH will no longer need external storage to complement its two other warehouses.
The company will also save $5,000 a month on electricity and maintenance charges, as the new warehouse is designed to allow maximum natural lighting and ventilation.
The addition of the third warehouse will boost newsprint storage capacity to 36,000 tonnes - about four months' supply - at the SPH Print Centre.
This will give SPH greater flexibility when buying newsprint, the price of which can fluctuate dramatically. It now costs around US$500 a tonne, down about 40 per cent since the third quarter of last year.
'Newspapers are the core of SPH's business,' said Mr Chan. 'Over the years, we have consistently improved our suite of newspapers, launched new ones and invested in printing capabilities.'
With eight press-lines, the SPH Print Centre in Jurong Port Road is the largest single printing site in South-east Asia.
