DSV Expands AutoStore Implementation to 20 Global Sites

Source: Element Logic

DSV is a transport and logistics leader based in Denmark that provides road, air, sea, and rail freight services, logistics, and warehousing. As one of the world's largest freight forwarders, DSV operates globally, managing and optimizing supply chains for businesses of all sizes.

DSV expanded its use of AutoStore technology to 20 additional sites following the success of its initial implementation. This significant investment extends AutoStore's solutions, empowered by Element Logic, across their warehouses in Europe, with investment extending to North America and Asia Pacific. The scale of this deployment reflects their confidence in AutoStore’s ability to optimize their warehouse operations.

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The Challenge: Optimize Global Operations at Scale

As one of the world's largest third-party logistics (3PL) providers, DSV needed to optimize warehouse space and efficiency while maintaining high standards of service delivery. With warehouses spread across multiple countries, DSV required a consistent yet adaptable solution. DSV's manual warehouse operations were struggling to:

• Reduce operational costs and minimize errors
• Accelerate order fulfillment to stay competitive
• Handle peak season demands without compromising efficiency
• Manage the rapid rise of e-commerce and increased need for piece picking

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The Solution: A Network of Interconnected AutoStore Systems

To address these challenges, DSV deployed AutoStore systems across multiple sites. The solution uses automated Robots to retrieve and deliver goods efficiently, ensuring optimal use of warehouse space and resources. The implementation began with a successful pilot in Kolding, Denmark, in 2019. This site became the world's largest AutoStore system within 3PL, featuring 88,000 Bins and 49 Robots in a 4,000 m² (43,056 ft2) Grid.

Building on this success, the AutoStore system was expanded to an additional 20 DSV sites in Europe, North America and the Asia Pacific region. Implementation in warehouses in Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Spain and Sweden are complete.

As Ronald Poort, Executive Vice President at DSV, points out, "These goods-to-person picking systems remove a lot of process waste and enable us to use individuals for jobs they do best — which is not walking about."

Key Benefits: Scalable, Flexible Efficiency

The AutoStore system, with just a six month implementation period, has helped DSV to achieve remarkable improvements across their fulfillment network:

• Increased throughput: The automated system reduced manual handling, resulting in a 50% increase in throughput.
• Space optimization: AutoStore's dense storage design led to a significant reduction in space use, allowing DSV to store more products within the same footprint.
• Enhanced scalability: The modular nature of AutoStore enabled DSV to scale operations swiftly to meet seasonal peaks without making additional infrastructure investments or overcrowding aisles.
• Intelligent order routing: Interconnected AutoStore systems automatically select products from the warehouse nearest to the delivery destination, optimizing shipping times and costs for e-commerce fulfillment.
• Improved speed and accuracy: The system significantly decreased order processing times, and ensured faster and more accurate deliveries.
• Optimized workforce time: Time spent on non-value tasks, like walking through warehouse aisles, is reduced. This allowed DSV to reassign staff to more skilled, productive activities.

DSV Sets New Standards in 3PL Automation

DSV's large-scale implementation of AutoStore technology represents a significant moment in the 3PL industry. The positive impact on DSV and their customers is explained by Morten Høilund, CEO of Prime Cargo (a DSV company): "Capacity and flexibility are the two major keywords for this installation. We have previously experienced bottlenecks during peak periods at our manual warehouse, which lowered our efficiency. With this AutoStore system, we can increase efficiency as well as capacity and at the same time make better use of the square meters."

Interconnectivity across warehouses brings flexibility to the picking, packaging, and delivery processes, and addresses key challenges in e-commerce fulfillment with the swift delivery it enables.

This approach also allows DSV to offer automated, competitive, and efficient warehousing even to small and medium-sized companies that previously might not have had access to such advanced solutions. As Poort explains, "We are investing significantly in a string of 20 interconnected automated [AutoStore] facilities across several continents. By doing so, we are providing companies of all sizes with the opportunity to get access to DSV's automated solutions matching their fluctuating needs."