DSV

DSV operates one of the world's largest logistics networks, managing high-throughput warehouse operations across multiple facilities. As e-commerce growth accelerated order volumes and customer delivery expectations tightened, their warehouses hit a structural bottleneck: manual cart-based picking could not scale to meet demand. Labor shortages made it difficult to staff peaks while maintaining throughput consistency, and extended associate onboarding periods created capacity gaps during high-volume periods. Order accuracy remained a persistent challenge across fulfillment sites. The cumulative cost of the status quo — constrained throughput, deep labor dependency, and picking errors — was eroding DSV's ability to meet SLA commitments at the scale required of a global 3PL provider.

DSV partnered with Locus Robotics to deploy autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) across its warehouse network, implementing a person-to-goods collaborative picking model. Rather than replacing associates, the robots navigate autonomously through warehouse aisles and meet pickers at each location, guiding them through AI-optimized pick paths via an on-robot interface. Locus Robotics' AI-powered orchestration engine dynamically assigns tasks and re-routes robots in real time based on order priority, inventory location, and associate availability — a key element of their Robotic Process Automation platform. The system integrated with DSV's existing warehouse management infrastructure, enabling a phased multi-site rollout without disrupting live operations. Locus Robotics' Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) delivery model reduced upfront capital requirements and allowed fleet size to flex with seasonal demand fluctuations.

The deployment delivered a 229% increase in picking productivity compared to the cart-based baseline — more than tripling output per associate hour and enabling the same workforce to absorb significantly higher order volumes. Beyond raw throughput, the rollout produced measurable operational improvements across the network:

• Productivity: 229% increase in picks per associate hour versus cart-based methods
• Onboarding: Reduced new associate training time, accelerating ramp-up during peak periods
• Accuracy: Improved order accuracy across fulfillment sites through robot-guided pick paths
• Scale: Validated across multiple DSV warehouse sites, establishing a repeatable enterprise deployment model

The combination of throughput gains, reduced labor dependency, and faster onboarding positioned the program as a core element of DSV's warehouse strategy.

• Collaborative robotics amplifies rather than replaces labor — the person-to-goods model delivers outsized productivity gains without full automation, making it viable even in constrained labor markets.
• AI orchestration drives the headline gains — dynamic task allocation across the fleet matters more than hardware speed; evaluate AMR vendors on orchestration intelligence, not just robot specs.
• WMS integration determines multi-site success — clean integration with existing warehouse management systems was essential to DSV's phased rollout; validate API compatibility before committing to scale.
• RaaS models reduce deployment risk — subscription-based fleet scaling lets operations align robot capacity to demand peaks without fixed capital commitment.