DHL Supply Chain is running a pilot test in conjunction with French robot technology ‘EffiBOT’ for an automated order picking operation in Germany.

Working as an automated trolley, the robot will follow pickers through the warehouse and help them with the bulk of the physical work required.

In the pilot for the project, two robots supported the warehouse pickers by carrying the weight before automatically dropping the orders off after they have been loaded.

Also being tested are collaborative robots for a variety of different services, such as mobile piece picking and co-packing robots, which navigate their own way through the shelves in the warehouse.

DHL Supply Chain site manager, Michael Artinger, was responsible for conducting the test and said that once the picker reaches maximum capacity, it then sends the goods to the drop off location as designated, while a different picking cart joins.

He said that this system will make the task of moving between single and multi order picking a more ergonomic and efficient process.

DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation’s Vice President of innovation and trend research, Markus Kuckelhaus, says that over the course of the next few weeks, DHL will continue to perform tests with various different systems and types of robot.

He added that the results of their evaluations will then decide which technology systems are to be implemented on a permanent basis and put DHL in a leading position in an ‘automated future of logistics.’

Earlier in the month, DHL was boosted with the award of Tesco’s transport provider from Eddie Stobart Logistics.

The three year contract is worth around £40 million and will come into effect from October, with around 150 Eddie Stobart Logistics who are assigned to Tesco set to be transferred to DHL.

A Tesco spokeperson said that the decision to tender the business was made in order to make sure the supermarket remains competitive.