Workers at DHL Group once walked the equivalent of a half marathon each day simply classifying, picking, and moving items within their massive warehouses. Now, that distance and effort are significantly reduced thanks to autonomous mobile robots capable of unloading containers at a rate 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 innovations have accelerated processes in 95% of DHL’s global warehouses. Item-picking robots have increased units picked per hour by 30%, while autonomous forklifts have contributed a 20% increase in efficiency, according to the company.
Tetzlaff emphasized the importance of automation given the labor-intensive nature of the logistics business. “We still have the ambition to grow our business even further, but if you look at where these distribution centers should be located … it’s typically very tough to find additional labor or even additional spaces just to build these warehouses there,” he said.
DHL is among a growing number of fulfillment companies investing in automation and artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. United Parcel Service CEO Carol Tomé stated on a recent earnings call that the company deployed automation in 57 buildings in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to 127 automated buildings, with plans for 24 more in 2026. The company expects to process 68% of U.S. Volume through automated facilities by the end of this year, up from 66.5% at the end of 2025.
FedEx also views automation as an opportunity to enhance its workforce, installing robotic arms to process small packages at its Memphis hub and collaborating with AI company Dexterity to leverage robots for loading boxes into containers. Its “Network 2.0” initiative aims to increase the efficiency of its package processes. The company recently announced a partnership with Berkshire Grey to launch a fully autonomous robot for container unloading and operational optimization. FedEx estimates the global warehouse automation market will exceed $51 billion by 2030.
“We now have about 24% of our eligible average daily volume flowing through 355 Network 2.0-optimized facilities,” CEO Raj Subramaniam said on a call with analysts in December.
A human fleet
The rise of automation is prompting companies to reassess the balance between human workers and technological innovations. UPS has announced layoffs exceeding 75,000 over the past year as part of a multiyear turnaround plan, and closed 93 buildings in 2025 with plans to shutter at least 24 more in the first half of 2026.
“What’s happening is you’re seeing a cascading effect of sites being closed that are legacy conventional facilities, a lot of labor required to run those facilities, to a much more nimble, quicker, automated, consolidated facility,” Executive Vice President Nando Cesarone said on the January earnings call.
A UPS spokesperson stated the company is focused on making jobs easier for its employees, with AI and robotics taking on repetitive tasks to improve efficiency. FedEx did not respond to requests for comment on its workforce balance and technology integration. Subramaniam noted that the Network 2.0 initiative has resulted in “structural cost reductions,” but the company has not publicly disclosed job cut figures.
The Teamsters union, representing workers at many major packaging companies, said it will continue to advocate for its members’ involvement in technology decisions. “We never want to get in the way of technology and its development, but all of that, it must support workers, and it cannot work against them ever,” spokesperson Lena Melentijevic told CNBC. “It’s the workers who are the backbone of each one of these companies and who are essential to their success, and we are here to advocate for them and hold companies accountable.”
DHL’s Tetzlaff said the company aims for automation to complement, not replace, human labor. He noted that even with technological improvements, the dexterous tasks of packaging and shipping remain the responsibility of employees. “In the time where we deployed 8,000 collaborative robotics into our operation worldwide, we still hired 40,000 people,” he said.
The company’s largest robotics deployment is in item picking, with over 2,500 robots utilizing trained arms to select items for packages. During the recent holiday season, DHL increased the capacity of its robotic fleet by 30% to meet Black Friday and Christmas demand.
“There’s an advantage for us as a company, having a great human fleet of workers that is motivated and likes the job, but complementing this with a robotic fleet that One can scale up and down and have that flexible stability to deal with change, the peaks throughout the year, be it bigger changes like Covid, be it [customer] profile changes and so on,” he said.
The path forward for investment
Despite recent advancements in humanoid robotics, supply chain expert and Accenture logistics and fulfillment lead Benjamin Reich believes that “humans are still in the lead.” He observed that his clients are not seeing job replacement, but rather a shift in required skill sets to bridge the gap between automation and operational tasks.
Reich added that investment is focused on increasing supply chain and warehouse execution efficiency, rather than simply replacing people. Ronny Horvath, the transportation and logistics lead at Accenture, highlighted a shortage of skilled workers with both manual and organizational skills, and increased competition for warehouse personnel based on pay, benefits, and lifestyle. “So automation can also help, not replacing but augmenting that gap, that void, that has been left by just not getting the workers that you have today,” Horvath said. “And we see a lot of clients, they have an automation or robotic strategy … but they still have the plans to hire human workers as well.”
Horvath added that the industry is realizing the benefits of new technology, enabling companies to adapt to high demand, increase efficiency, and move toward more automated processes. According to an Accenture study from March, 51% of factories globally expect to have fully automated warehouses by 2040, and 70% of transportation logistics executives treat autonomous supply chains as a top investment priority.
“There’s almost no autonomous structure existing at the moment,” Horvath said. “So most or some of these clients are starting from scratch, and this will take time until these investments are done and until they also reap the benefits out of it for all those areas.”
