DHL Hits One Billion Robotic Warehouse Picks as New Integration Platform Targets 100 Sites
DHL Supply Chain and Locus Robotics completed their one billionth autonomous warehouse pick, while DHL's new SOFTBOT platform enables robotic integration 12 times faster across 30 sites with plans to expand to 100.
Overview
DHL Supply Chain, the world’s largest contract logistics provider, crossed two warehouse automation milestones in March 2026. First, its fleet of Locus Robotics autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) completed its one billionth warehouse pick across more than 40 global fulfillment centers. Then, in a separate announcement on March 17, DHL revealed that SVT Robotics’ SOFTBOT platform is now live at 30 sites worldwide, with plans to expand to more than 100 sites over the next three years.
Together, the milestones reflect a shift in logistics automation from isolated robot deployments toward enterprise-scale orchestration, as DHL operates more than 8,000 collaborative robots across its global warehouse network.
The Billion-Pick Milestone
DHL first partnered with Locus Robotics in 2017 to improve warehouse productivity and respond to rising e-commerce demand. The landmark billionth pick was completed inside a DHL facility by a Locus AMR. The individual item was a pink beanie.
Thousands of Locus AMRs now operate in more than 40 DHL-managed facilities, supporting order fulfillment in sectors including e-commerce, retail, and healthcare. DHL reports the technology has delivered 30 to 180 percent increases in units picked per hour and an 80 percent reduction in training time for warehouse staff. The company has reinforced the partnership through an expanded agreement that includes plans to deploy 5,000 autonomous mobile robots across its global network.
Notably, during the period in which DHL deployed its 8,000 collaborative robots, the company also hired 40,000 people, indicating a complementary rather than replacement approach to automation.
SOFTBOT Platform Accelerates Integration
The second milestone addresses a different bottleneck: the speed at which new robotic systems can be brought online. Prior to implementing SVT Robotics’ technology-neutral SOFTBOT platform, each new automation technology required separate custom coding, a process that took six to eight weeks per deployment and made enterprise-wide rollouts slow and costly.
The SOFTBOT platform replaces that approach with a plug-and-play orchestration layer. DHL says the platform enables robotics integrations up to 12 times faster than traditional methods. In one deployment, DHL replicated Goods-to-Person robotic solutions across European sites with integration work completed in three hours. In Asia Pacific, new operational technology was added to live operations with zero downtime.
The platform provides a single, multi-site dashboard for teams to monitor system-wide operations and is designed to be technology-agnostic, accommodating different robotic vendors without requiring vendor-specific middleware.
Broader Warehouse Automation Landscape
DHL’s push comes amid rapid growth in warehouse robotics. The global warehouse robotics market is projected to grow from $1.8 billion in 2025 to $6.6 billion by 2035 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.8 percent. AMRs currently dominate the market with approximately 44.4 percent share, offering greater flexibility than traditional automated guided vehicles.
Other logistics operators are pursuing parallel strategies. Amazon acquired Swiss robotics company Rivr on March 19 to test wheeled-legged robots for doorstep delivery. Rivr’s hybrid robots travel at up to 15 kilometers per hour, carry 30 kilograms, and navigate stairs. Amazon expects to begin testing later in 2026.
The broader logistics industry is investing heavily in automation as rising labor costs, labor shortages, and the growing complexity of e-commerce fulfillment increase pressure on traditional warehouse operations. Companies that have adopted robot-powered systems report order fulfillment speed increases of up to 300 percent, accuracy rates reaching 99 percent, and labor cost reductions of up to 30 percent.
What Comes Next
DHL’s roadmap calls for expanding the SOFTBOT platform from 30 to more than 100 sites across all geographies over the next three years. The company is also exploring AI-driven approaches through a separate alliance with Robust.AI for logistics automation in Mexico. The combination of scale (one billion picks) and speed (12 times faster integration) positions DHL as a benchmark for how large logistics operators are transitioning from pilot projects to industrial-scale robotic deployment.