DHL Supply Chain
Company-reportedExceptions onlyThat people must spend entire shifts lifting loose-loaded cases from hot or cold trailers.
Logistics · North America, United Kingdom, and Europe
Collections: Embodied work
Executive brief
The case is strongest as an ergonomic workflow redesign; throughput is a maximum, and the undisclosed exception rate determines labor economics.
AI value · Case unloading rate
Company-reportedUp to 700 cases per hour; DHL states tested robot speeds exceeded the manual approach
Operator-reported maximum, not an average; product mix affects speed and employee-satisfaction improvement was not quantified.
Before
Enter the trailer, identify each case, lift it, and place it onto a conveyor. → Clear fallen or irregular cases and sustain throughput across the shift.
After
Uses perception and a robotic arm to identify, grasp, and place cases from the trailer onto a conveyor. → Supervises the cell, clears exceptions, and works in downstream or higher-value tasks.
Human boundary
The robot selects routine grasp and placement actions; people control cell safety and exception recovery.
Why it matters
That people must spend entire shifts lifting loose-loaded cases from hot or cold trailers.
This case is company-reported. Use it for the operating-model shift; do not treat the numbers as independently measured.
Before
How the work ran before the change.
Warehouse associate
Enter the trailer, identify each case, lift it, and place it onto a conveyor.
ControlManual pace and safe-lifting practice
Warehouse team
Clear fallen or irregular cases and sustain throughput across the shift.
ControlHuman coordination
What changed
That people must spend entire shifts lifting loose-loaded cases from hot or cold trailers.
Decision rightAI handles the default; humans own exceptions
After
How the same work runs now.
Stretch robot
Uses perception and a robotic arm to identify, grasp, and place cases from the trailer onto a conveyor.
ControlRobotic operating envelope
Warehouse associate
Supervises the cell, clears exceptions, and works in downstream or higher-value tasks.
ControlHuman safety and exception authority
Exception path
Humans handle fallen boxes, unsupported products, jams, and cases outside the robot's grasp envelope.
Work removed
Decision authority
The robot selects routine grasp and placement actions; people control cell safety and exception recovery.
Before
Warehouse associate
Enter the trailer, identify each case, lift it, and place it onto a conveyor.
Control: Manual pace and safe-lifting practice
Warehouse team
Clear fallen or irregular cases and sustain throughput across the shift.
Control: Human coordination
After
Stretch robot
Uses perception and a robotic arm to identify, grasp, and place cases from the trailer onto a conveyor.
Control: Robotic operating envelope
Warehouse associate
Supervises the cell, clears exceptions, and works in downstream or higher-value tasks.
Control: Human safety and exception authority
Work that left the path
Human role before
Associates performed continuous strenuous unloading inside trailers.
Human role after
Associates supervise robotic unloading, recover fallen or unsupported cases, and move to other warehouse work.
AI roleMobile robotic perception, grasp planning, and manipulation for variable carton unloading.
Manual unloading rate in tested environments→Up to 700 cases per hour; DHL states tested robot speeds exceeded the manual approach
Commercial deployments through 2025-05-13 · DHL deployments in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe
Operator-reported maximum, not an average; product mix affects speed and employee-satisfaction improvement was not quantified.
Anti-pattern
Using the 700-case maximum as an average or ignoring exception labor.
Questions
Portability conditions
Reputation risk
medium
Evidence and authority
Current · updated
2 primary; publication outcomes are reported.
Bundle 1.0.0 · reviewed 2026-08-23 · stable ID e25eb1b9d100c26c
Rio Tinto Iron Ore · Exceptions only
Mainline driving can be automated while exceptions move to remote operations.
Amazon · Exceptions only
Hinge: multiple specialized robots can coordinate inventory presentation, package handling, and cart movement while employees shift toward quality, flow, maintenance, and exception work.
Waymo · Exceptions only
Within a defined domain, automated driving can control the vehicle while remote assistance handles exceptions.
Ocado Group / Ocado Retail · Exceptions only
Robotic arms can pick more grocery items on-grid while people handle exceptions and fulfillment operations.