Robotics in logistics: expect first substantial returns and continuous curiosity in 2019

Robotics and automation are likely to play an ever-increasing role in logistics over the next twelve months. Supporting the DHL divisions with improving and adopting robotics solutions, I see it’s essential for companies to be curious and open for internal and external collaboration. This was particularly evident during the second DHL Robotics Day held at DHL’s flagship Innovation Center in Germany towards the end of 2018.

With the theme of “sensing capabilities and enhancing robotics”, this full-day hands-on event addressed participants’ curiosity about what could be automated in the future. More than 250 customers and colleagues from over 25 countries attended, along with more than 30 robotic exhibitors from across the globe. Agenda topics covered the current status of robotics, provided an outlook of where we want to be in future and considered how we can get there in light of the challenges we might face along the way.

Here are my key takeaways from the presentations, exhibitions, and discussions with customers and partners:

Robotics and automation are perceived as major disruptors and capable of creating competitive advantage in the logistics industry

The biggest changes for manual environments are still to come! However, the industry is already actively embracing robotics with many new entrants shaping the physical elements of the supply chain of the future. There are broad implementation opportunities for robotics and automation across all parts of the supply chain. First best practices become public, and prove readiness of adoption (aside from all the hype that is out there, too).

The logistics sector will eventually become the most attractive industry for robotics aside from manufacturing

Although the logistics industry’s share of the overall robotics market is relatively small today, the potential for growth and development is tremendous. It will be interesting to see the changing share of sales per year in logistics versus other industries. Logistics is perceived as offering the biggest growth potential for professional service robots.

The level of automation varies along the supply chain

Due to the standardized nature of Deutsche Post DHL’s network business in express, parcel, and mail, there is already a high degree of hard automation. On the other hand, our need for flexibility accounts for lower levels of automation in our outsourcing business such as contract logistics solutions along the supply chain. Here, we are still in an early stage of robotics adoption but major developments and announcements can be expected this year.

A startup mentality can help with embracing adoption during times of accelerated change

Robotics applications are gradually gaining traction and DHL, together with customers, is committed to facilitating innovation to maintain a thought leadership role in the industry. We have successfully adapted to the new business climate by developing a culture of open collaboration and we are embracing startup principles to get ahead of disruption in the industry. To learn how corporations and startups can work more effectively with one another helps to remain agile amid constant change.

The human factor plays an equally important role in successful adoption

The pace of change is fast and volatile both in terms of technological capabilities and customer expectations. So it’s very important to look after automated workflows and adapt them to ever-changing environments. To succeed, companies will have to properly orchestrate and optimize an evolving mix of diverse robots and humans to execute workflows. Instead of trying to remove the human factor altogether, we should work towards hybrid models for physical work – models that combine humans strengths, such as abstract reasoning, emotional intelligence and strategic creativity, with robot strengths including precision, efficiency, and data collection. In his keynote speech, Daniel Theobald, CIO of Vecna Robotics, shared fantastic thoughts on how this could work.

Some technologies are ready for widespread adoption, but organizations may need to adjust

So first solutions are proving viability and demonstrating measurable benefits. As such, we can expect some of these solutions to be widely adopted in the near future. But to fully embrace this new tech in existing and new environments, it will be essential for organizations to adjust. A complex, global, and cross-functional organization will need to find new ways to enable internal collaboration with clear roles, responsibilities and commitments, from solution design to continuous improvement, and ensure robust internal support functions such as procurement and legal. Of course, companies need to have a long-term vision to set the strategic direction but, at the same time, they need to embrace an agile mindset and define novel ways of adopting solutions that are constantly evolving.

"The more you know, the more you know you don´t know"

Despite this general readiness, many organizations and use cases across the supply chain still require further exploration and development before organizations can widely apply robotics in the future. DHL is continually identifying and working on unaddressed use cases to support partners in the development of solutions capable of speeding go-to-market deployment. From unloading and loading to horizontal and vertical movements as well as all kinds of pick and place activities, we´ll remain very busy this year. I am also excited by the potential beyond four walls such as DHL’s continuation of medicine delivery via drones in Tanzania. We won't see engagements like that in any comparable extent to indoor automation in the foreseeable future, nevertheless, it is our absolute responsibility to support developments that help to improve and save lives.

I would like to thank our customers, partners, and colleagues for their energy, curiosity, and open engagement at this most recent DHL Robotics Day. Most of all, I would like to thank the event organizers who worked so hard to set the bar for future conferences – thanks for your great work and congratulations on a fantastic job! Julian Bröcheler, Karolina Ejzermann, Dalia Topan, Frank Stockhausen, Jamie Tan

You can review all of the presentations and materials on our website.