DHL Reports Positive 1Q2021, Invests in Digitalization

German logistics giant DHL signed an expanded agreement with Locus Robotics to extend its accelerated digitalization strategy, announced DHL through a press release. The agreement will support DHL’s digitalization of its supply chain through the installation of assisted picking robots, which have proven to be extremely effective in commercially scaled operations. “By 2022, the logistics specialist plans to implement up to 2,000 assisted picking robots globally,” reads the release. This is one of the company’s latest steps in modernizing and digitalizing its operations further.

“It is particularly important for us to be able to consistently optimize our supply chains – assisted picking robots are very effective in this respect,” said 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 US, the EU and the UK. By the end of 2021, another 500 robots are to be added to a total of more than 20 locations. […] 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,” he continued.

DHL’s announcement comes fight after the company reported its best quarter in history. According to DHL’s press release, all divisions of the company significantly increased in EBIT during 1Q2021. The group EBIT tripled to around €1.9 billion (US$2.26 billion). To put things into perspective, during 1Q2020 the company’s EBIT was €592 million (US$704 million). This feat was largely celebrated by DHL as it exceeded all market expectations. The company’s success was derived from the accelerated growth of the logistics and e-commerce sectors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mexico is also seeing significant growth in its logistics and e-commerce sectors, which are driving the need for digitalization and modern technologies to satisfy the ever-growing demand from consumers. “Communication between logistics and e-commerce players remains key. Different customers have different priorities. Some want to deliver cheaper, others faster and others both. Communication is necessary to bring the experience for the end-customer to the next level," said Christophe Milheres, Managing Director Mexico at LalaMove, during Mexico Business Forum. Fostering the relationship between the supplier and the customer is vital for new business models, particularly ones that depend on strong logistics operations to better satisfy demand.