Ninja Van wants to hike investment in innovation – BusinessMirror

Ninja Van Philippines is keen on increasing its investment in innovation so it can serve more Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to an official of the company.

Ninja Van COO Jose Alvin Perez told the BusinessMirror that the company recognizes the need to invest more in technology and engineering amid the boom in electronic commerce.

“We will definitely have to pour in a lot more investments. The five years of growth seen by Ninja Van is a product of hard work and our dedication to facilitate the expansion of e-commerce in the country,” Perez said.

He noted that many local MSMEs now rely on the services of the logistics company for their “day-to-day hustle” and technology-based transactions. This was brought about by the lockdowns and quarantine restrictions, which prompted consumers to buy their food and supplies online.

The group recently announced a $50-million investment in automation technology and systems in key regional parcel sorting hubs, which include the Cabuyao hub in Laguna.

Seen to be completed by the second half of 2024, the company said these region-wide parcel handling improvements are expected to increase the Group’s overall operational productivity by 50 percent.

Earlier this year, Ninja Van opened its 21,000-square-meter fully-automated hub in Cabuyao, Laguna. With fully integrated measurement and sortation systems, it is Ninja Van Group’s largest automated hub in Southeast Asia, boosting receiving and outbound capacities by 300 percent and 400 percent, respectively.

The facility, which is equivalent to 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools, can process at least 300,000 parcels daily. It is manned by 1,300 employees (or ninjas) using state-of-the-art automated sortation equipment.

Ninja Van entered the Philippine market in the last quarter of 2016, just a few months after the country elected a candidate from Davao City as president.

Ahead of its sixth anniversary, Perez announced that the company has just completed its Novaliches hub in September to serve the growing logistics demand of Central and Northern Luzon.

He said the company’s Novaliches hub in Quezon City, which was built on a 5,000 square meter property in the busiest part of the city, employs less than 200 workers.

“With our todo hustle, no hassle commitment, we are excited for the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.”

Launched in 2014, the Ninja Van Group first started operations in Singapore as a last-mile logistics company, rapidly expanding to key Southeast Asian markets.