A warehouse automation deal is also a contest over the cost of each fulfilled order. On March 11, 2020, DHL Supply Chain and Locus Robotics announced ten new U.S. deployments planned for that year, within a broader plan for 1,000 LocusBots across 12 North American DHL sites. The ten U.S. sites are not the full 12-site total. [shared-77fbbbe1e9c7a0e2f3fdbeaa8a8e4e9e3576b3de2f26a248b89c6e2477158aab]
The robots navigate warehouse floors and carry picked items to human associates, changing the distance and handling work rather than removing the associate from the process. DHL and Locus said they began a piece-picking pilot in 2017. DHL reported productivity increases of up to 80% in selected initial life-sciences and retail operations; that company-reported result is neither a typical-site benchmark nor a guarantee. [shared-77fbbbe1e9c7a0e2f3fdbeaa8a8e4e9e3576b3de2f26a248b89c6e2477158aab]
For DHL, a multi-site arrangement can spread operating experience across facilities; for Locus, it is a route to scale inside a large logistics network. But deployment counts do not establish lower total costs or prove that rivals can match the arrangement. Equipment, integration, maintenance and workflow redesign sit outside any headline productivity figure. The test is whether measured throughput gains persist after those costs—and whether customers retain credible alternatives. The March announcement described plans for 2020, not completed installations. [shared-77fbbbe1e9c7a0e2f3fdbeaa8a8e4e9e3576b3de2f26a248b89c6e2477158aab]