UK parcel delivery company DPD has developed a tailored end-to-end robotic warehouse automation solution in partnership with Deus Robotics to enable warehouse operators to focus on more high-level, value-adding and less physically demanding work.
The solution, which was created as part of DPD’s EcoLaunchpad program, includes custom-built AI-powered software to operate the warehouse robots; a user-friendly cross-platform web application; specially designed transportation cages; and Deus Robotics ‘Rack Robots’. Equipped with obstacle-detecting technology, the robots help increase productivity by up to five times and can transport racks weighing up to 1,100 lb, according to DPD.
Following the successful trial, DPD has now placed an initial order to transform the operation at its flagship Docklands sortation center in London.
Tim Jones, director of marketing, communications and sustainability at DPDgroup UK, commented, “A big part of what makes us the UK’s leading premium parcel delivery company is our unending commitment to innovation and investment in new technology. We created the EcoLaunchpad to find and pull together the global innovators that can help us develop the solutions to power our journey to net zero.
“The next part of that journey will require much more than just decarbonizing [the] fleet. We have to challenge ourselves on every aspect of the operation and think about technologies that aren’t currently widely adopted or sitting ‘on the shelf’ already. By working side by side with the innovators, we hope to solve more of the problems, more quickly.”
Antonina Iermeichuk, co-founder and COO of Deus Robotics, added, “We are very proud to help DPD automate its parcel delivery operation. To be selected from the EcoLaunchpad and be able to work alongside the DPD team to develop the tailormade solution has helped make this a really successful implementation. The project marks yet another milestone on our journey to building a more sustainable logistics future.”
In related news, DPD Germany is building a new ultra-modern parcel sorting center in Kaiserslautern in southwest Germany that will open at the end of this year. Read the full story here