DHL Supply Chain is to buy up to 2,000 robots from warehouse robot technology company Locus Robotics by 2022 as part of its drive for greater efficiency.

The Locus Robotics machines have been trialled by DHL Supply Chain and have proven effective at achieving greater efficiencies in its warehouses. The assisted picking robots will be mostly used in e-commerce and consumer warehouses to support picking and inventory replenishment.

“It is particularly important for us to be able to consistently optimise our supply chains – assisted picking robots are very effective in this respect,” says Markus Voss, Global CIO & COO DHL Supply Chain. “So far, more than 500 assisted picking robots are already in industrial use in our warehouses in the USA, Europe and the UK. By the end of 2021, another 500 robots are to be added in a total of more than 20 locations.

The collaborative picking technology has clearly proven its effectiveness and reliability in modern warehousing. More locations have already been identified with concrete implementation roadmaps for the remaining robots, which we will deploy in 2022. However, the overall potential for assisted picking robots in our DHL warehouses is much bigger, so we are confident that we will meet the targets we have set ourselves together with Locus Robotics”.