How packaging and logistics companies are automating their warehouses

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Workers at DHL Group used to walk close to a half marathon each day just to classify, pick and move items across massive warehouses.

Now, their distance and efforts are greatly reduced by autonomous mobile robots that can unload containers for the package delivery and supply chain management company with a speed of up to 650 cases per hour.

“That is what we look forward to, and where we’ve been successful in deploying technology at scale over the last five years, going from when we started in 2020 with 240 projects, and now we’re up to 10,000 projects,” Tim Tetzlaff, DHL’s global head of digital transformation, told CNBC.

The company’s autonomous innovations have accelerated processes at 95% of DHL’s global warehouses. Item-picking robots in one warehouse have increased units picked per hour by 30%, while autonomous forklifts at that same warehouse have contributed a 20% increase in efficiency, the company said.