DHL Supply Chain will invest €637m to expand robotics and digitalisation across its UK & Ireland contract logistics network, deploying more than 1,000 additional robots and opening a new health logistics facility as it seeks to scale capacity for e‑commerce and life‑sciences growth.
DHL Supply Chain has announced a major expansion of automation in the UK and Ireland, saying it will invest €637 million (£550m / $744m) to expand infrastructure and speed up the rollout of robotics and digitalisation across its contract logistics operations. According to the company, the fresh spending builds on more than €1 billion already committed to automation in the last three years and will support accelerated growth in e‑commerce and life‑sciences healthcare fulfilment.
The company said the plan will see “more than 1,000” additional robots deployed across its UK & Ireland network as it seeks to scale capacity ahead of rising demand. Saul Resnick, chief executive of DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland, described the move as a long‑term bet on the region: speaking in the group’s announcement, he said the investment reflects “the growing opportunities across the UK market” and that customers are seeing faster returns as robotics integration becomes more sophisticated. Tim Tetzlaff, global head of digital transformation at DHL Supply Chain, said the approach is not “one‑size‑fits‑all” but rather a portfolio of adaptive technologies tailored to sectors’ differing needs.
The expansion will be carried out through a mix of in‑house projects and deepened partnerships with robotics vendors. DHL points to more than 2,000 robots already working alongside colleagues across the UK, Ireland and EMEA, and says more than 750 assisted‑picking robots from partners such as Locus Robotics and 6 River Systems are live across multiple sites. The company also highlighted a recent deployment of Boston Dynamics’ Stretch robot in the UK for trailer and container unloading; Stretch units have been reported to achieve case‑unloading rates of up to 700 boxes per hour in commercial trials, reducing manual strain and boosting throughput.
That partnership appears set to deepen. Boston Dynamics has publicly described a memorandum of understanding with DHL Group aimed at scaling Stretch deployments, saying the agreement would enable delivery of more than 1,000 additional Stretch robots and explore extending the robot’s remit into other labour‑intensive tasks such as case picking. The two announcements leave room for interpretation: DHL’s statement speaks of “more than 1,000” extra robots across UK operations without specifying models, while Boston Dynamics’ announcement refers specifically to Stretch. The distinction matters for how much of DHL’s planned fleet will be dedicated to unloading versus picking and other tasks.
DHL’s recent automation drive is framed inside its wider Strategy 2030 and an “Accelerated Digitalisation” agenda. The group cites more than 3,200 digitalisation projects delivered across the UK, Ireland and EMEA to date, and earlier collaborations underline rapid scaling: last year the group and Locus Robotics celebrated a milestone of 500 million picks completed by Locus autonomous mobile robots at DHL‑managed sites, a figure the partners used to illustrate how quickly robotic picking volumes have grown.
Part of the new investment will also be channelled into specialist infrastructure: DHL said it will open a new DHL Health Logistics facility in Derby, equipped with cold‑chain and cleanroom capabilities to support life‑sciences and healthcare customers. The company stated that the UK life‑sciences logistics market is expected to see double‑digit growth over the next five years and that the facility will integrate into its global Health Logistics network.
DHL framed the timing of the announcement in political and trade policy terms, noting that the UK government’s new Trade Strategy prioritises services and high‑growth sectors and aims to unlock export opportunities. The government document referenced by the company includes measures such as a Ricardo Fund to address regulatory barriers and an increase in UK Export Finance capacity — proposals the strategy says could help unlock around £5 billion of export opportunities and expand finance capacity by tens of billions of pounds. DHL cast its investment as complementary to those national objectives, signalling ambition to be the “go‑to” supply‑chain provider as trade patterns shift.
The company emphasised expected productivity gains and improved ergonomics for warehouse workers, pointing to faster throughput and reduced physical strain where robots handle repetitive or heavy tasks. Industry partners have publicly reinforced those claims: Boston Dynamics and DHL both assert that Stretch has out‑paced manual unloading in trials, and Locus has described successive pick‑volume milestones being reached in ever shorter intervals.
Still, questions remain. DHL’s public statements do not fully itemise the planned mix of robot types, site‑by‑site roll‑out schedules or the expected impact on staffing levels beyond general references to enhanced safety and colleague ergonomics. The Boston Dynamics memorandum points to an ambitious scaling of Stretch units, but it is not explicit about how many of those units will be assigned to UK sites versus other markets, or the commercial timetables for mass deployment. Likewise, while DHL projects strong growth in life sciences logistics, the company’s growth projections and the government’s trade ambitions will depend on regulatory alignment, skills availability and the ability of customers to invest in or adopt new automation solutions.
For now, the announcement underlines a continuing trend in logistics: large operators are placing big, visible bets on robotics and software to meet higher order volumes and tighter fulfilment windows. DHL’s stated ambition — to deepen co‑development with technology vendors and scale robots across core operations — signals that the next phase of warehouse automation will be a test of integration, labour market adjustments and the economics of capital‑intensive modernisation. The unfolding deployments and the Boston Dynamics MOU will be key indicators to watch over the coming months as the group moves from pilot projects to broader commercial roll‑out.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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