FEATURE Packaging
DHL Supply Chain recently announced it is to deploy 1,000+ additional robots across UK operations to support business growth in the e-commerce and life sciences health care sector. Michelle Lea got to see DHL Supply Chain omni-channel Distribution Centre in Coventry
The beauty of pick assist robots The beauty of pick assist robots T
he DHL Supply Chain investment of £550m will expand its infrastructure and accelerate the rollout of
automation across its customer operations in UK and Ireland, to support growing demand in the e-commerce and life sciences health care sectors. Until 2030, DHL’s contract logistics business plans to well as globally, with automation, robotics and digitalisation being a key enabler of this growth.
Saul Resnick, CEO DHL Supply Chain across the UK market. Customers are of digitalisation and, to date this year, we’ve already surpassed the number of deployments achieved last year. What’s more, the integration of robotics and automation in customer operations is becoming more sophisticated, so faster ROI.
the right infrastructure and expertise in place, tailored to support high- growth industries like e-commerce and healthcare. That’s why we’re investing for long-term impact, ensuring we are the go- to supply chain provider. The UK’s new Trade Strategy reinforces this direction by supporting fast-growing sectors and enhancing access to global markets – priorities that closely align with our investment focus and customer needs.” Through strategic partnerships with technology companies, DHL is intensifying its commitment to go beyond classical vendor relationships to emphasise co-developing, testing, and scaling robotics solutions with leading innovators. This strategy has already resulted in more than 2,000 robots working collaboratively alongside its associates in the UK, Ireland and EMEA region. More than 750 Assisted Picking Robots from strategic partners Locus Robotics and 6 River Systems (now
16 July/August 2025 | Automation
Ocado Mobile Robot System OMRS) are live across 18 sites in the region. For example, the Sephora and DHL omni- channel Distribution Centre (DC) in Coventry deploys OMRS pick assist robots to support and accurately picked, across 34,000 SKUs. The warehouse features strategic Sephora branding, ensuring that DHL colleagues understand Sephora as a retailer and Sephora’s customer base, helping promote service and engagement levels. As Natalie Frow, managing director eCommerce and Retail at DHL Supply the shopper at the end, not just about a logistics process.”
Rather than replacing humans, the pick assist robots (below) help eliminate unnecessary walking and searching and ensure the right
and ready for a customer to order. This means products must be on the shelves in 24 hours, ready for picking. At the control centre, website orders are
released in waves to the OMRS technology, which matches orders and product locations, orders from one pick location. This isn’t always possible, but the system matches as many as it The OMRS system produces a unique
Sephora and DHL will work in close partnership to ensure the supply chain operation and inventory levels are able to support peaks in demand such as launches, promotions or product availability. The distribution centre supports all eight of Sephora’s retail stores in the UK (with growth expected to reach 20 stores by 2027), UK wide e-commerce, plus some exports to the Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Israel and Iceland.
At the Coventry facility, once goods inwards shipments are checked and entered onto the warehouse system, products are then ‘live’
order reference for each packaging box, based advised what size box to choose, the box is then scanned, which tells the operator where each box should be placed on the robot (pick to light with packaging boxes, the operator initiates the picking process. arriving at the correct picking bay. A screen on the robot tells the operator which item to pick, the quantity needed, and where the correct picked. When the orders have all been picked, the robot navigates its way to the packing bespoke automated box sealing system, ready for despatch.
The pick assist robots boost productivity, improve ergonomics and picking accuracy. DHL Supply Chain’s commitment to automation is also demonstrated by the recent Stretch Robot for container unloading in the UK. The Stretch robots have the ability to unload up to 700 boxes per hour, reducing physical strain on warehouse colleagues and enhancing productivity in fast turnaround environments, such as e-commerce.
DHL Supply Chain
www.dhl.com/gb-en/home/
supply-chain.html
automationmagazine.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
