DHL Supply Chain has announced it will invest £550m (US$747m) to expand its infrastructure and accelerate the rollout of automation across its customer operations in the UK and Ireland, to support growing demand in the e-commerce and life sciences health care sectors.
Through strategic partnerships with technology companies, DHL is co-developing, testing and scaling robotics solutions with leading innovators. This strategy has already resulted in more than 2,000 robots working collaboratively alongside associates in the UK, Ireland and EMEA region.
Tim Tetzlaff, global head of digital transformation, DHL Supply Chain, explained, “At DHL, we’re driving the next wave of automation, not as a one-size-fits-all approach but as a set of intelligent, adaptive technologies tailored to the specific needs of individual sectors.
“For e-commerce, for example, where the market is evolving and demand is growing, we’re expanding our fulfilment capabilities to support that shift with automated solutions that significantly simplify high-volume operations.
“Meanwhile, in the growing life sciences sector, we’re leveraging automation to respond faster to demand and manage complexity at scale with end-to-end visibility, amid a larger focus on patient-centric approaches and differentiated routes to market.”
Investing for the long term
As part of DHL Group’s Strategy 2030, DHL also announced it will open a new DHL Health Logistics facility in Derby, which has been designed to support growth in the life sciences and healthcare sector.
Saul Resnick, CEO DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland, commented, “Our investment reflects the growing opportunities across the UK market. Customers are increasingly recognizing the benefits of digitalization 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 customers are seeing greater benefits and faster ROI.
“This momentum is only possible with 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.”