Most Customers Are Not Satisfied With Warehouse Robotics — DHL Insights

Insight 2030 — What DHL’s Latest Report Reveals About the Future of Supply Chains

DHL’s Insight 2030 report provides one of the most comprehensive snapshots of how supply chain leaders in North America view the next five years. Based on input from 350 C-suite and VP-level leaders, it captures both the optimism and the underlying tension shaping the modern supply chain.

Below is an analysis of the most important themes — and what they signal for operators, automation buyers, robotics vendors, and integration partners.

1. Supply Chains Are Now Core to Corporate Strategy — But Leaders May Be Overconfident

An overwhelming 99% of respondents say the supply chain is important or extremely important, signaling a shift from “cost center” to “strategic asset.” Yet 89% believe their supply chain is above average, a statistical impossibility that suggests blind spots in maturity awareness.

This overconfidence matters because it can mask gaps in:

• Process standardization

• Data-driven benchmarking

• Technical integration

• Operational resilience

Executives know the supply chain is strategic — but many misjudge how far they still have to go.

2. Technology Adoption Is High — but Satisfaction Is Not

Most organizations now have TMS, WMS, analytics tools, and various forms of automation deployed. 91% upgraded their WMS in the last five years — a remarkable modernization pace.

Yet the satisfaction gap is unmistakable:

• C-suite leaders consistently rate their systems more positively.

• VP/Director-level leaders — those closest to operations — report the most friction.

And one metric stands out:

Why Only 34% of Leaders Are Satisfied With Warehouse Robotics — And What This Tells Us

The DHL research shows only 34% of VP/Director-level leaders are fully satisfied with warehouse robotics deployments.
For an industry investing billions in automation, this is a strikingly low number — and it reveals several structural issues that transcend robotics itself.

Below is what drives this dissatisfaction, and why it supports the growing industry shift toward orchestration, interoperability, and independent integration.

A. Robotics Are Being Deployed Without True Orchestration

Most robotics solutions are introduced as isolated islands of automation:

• A fleet of AMRs

• A static piece-picking robot

• A palletizing cell

• A container-unloading robot

• A shuttle or cube ASRS

• A micro-fulfillment system

Each subsystem works — but they do not work together, and they do not share a unified view of:

• Inventory

• Workload

• Task allocation

• Priority rules

• Congestion

• Real-time conditions

This leads to:

• Work-in-progress pileups

• Starved workstations

• Idle robots waiting on upstream bottlenecks

• Lower-than-expected UPH

• Dependency on manual “bridging” tasks

Most dissatisfaction stems not from the robots, but from the lack of a neutral orchestration layer capable of coordinating multi-vendor systems.

B. Throughput Claims Rarely Match Reality

The industry still lacks standardized, independently verified performance benchmarks.
As a result:

• Robots rarely meet vendor-quoted throughput in real conditions.

• Performance fluctuates significantly with SKU mix, carton quality, lighting, or handling requirements.

• End users cannot compare systems fairly across vendors.

The gap between theoretical and real-world throughput is now one of the largest contributors to ROI disappointment.

This is exactly why advanced operators are shifting toward:

• Real-world benchmarking

• Digital twins and P95 peak simulation

• Vendor-agnostic design reviews

• Independent throughput validations

C. Integration Is the Weakest Link — Not the Robotics

Most supply chains now operate multiple automated systems, each with its own:

• API

• Rules engine

• Constraints

• Interface

• Inventory view

But warehouses require one unified flow.

The weakest part of most automation deployments is:

• The custom integration layer connecting robotics → WMS → WES/WCS

• The lack of a unified “brain” orchestrating all processes

• Vendor-specific black boxes that limit transparency

• Patchwork logic developed by SI partners under time pressure

This operational fragmentation is the biggest inhibitor of robotics ROI today — and the biggest opportunity for companies offering neutral orchestration.

D. Robotics Requires Deep Workflow Redesign — Not Just Installation

Robotics underdelivers when:

• Old processes are automated without redesign

• ABC/ABCD slotting is outdated

• Buffering, accumulation, and queue management are poorly engineered

• Upstream/downstream flows are not synchronized

• Workstations are not designed to match robotic rhythms

• Exceptions aren’t engineered into the operational model

Robotics amplifies the strengths — and weaknesses — of existing workflows.

The companies seeing the best ROI redesign their entire flow before installing a single robot.

E. Vendors Are Not Integration Companies — And Don’t Want to Be

Robotics vendors excel at hardware and core software, but they are not incentivized to:

• Integrate competing vendors

• Provide transparent data

• Support long-term orchestration

• Ensure cross-system optimization

• Prevent vendor lock-in

The result is a landscape where automation expands, but interoperability does not.

This is the foundation of the dissatisfaction highlighted in the DHL study — and the strategic opportunity for specialist firms that focus on independence, orchestration, and system-level engineering.

3. Cybersecurity Becomes the Top Concern

56% of leaders cite cybersecurity as the #1 operational risk, surpassing labor, service levels, and regulatory compliance.

This reflects:

• Rapid digitization

• Reliance on cloud-connected automation

• IoT proliferation

• Multi-vendor integrations

• Rising sophistication of attackers

As supply chains modernize, cybersecurity becomes the new uptime.

4. The Next Five Years: More Facilities, More Complexity, Higher Costs

Leaders expect dramatic structural shifts by 2030:

• 73% expect increased investment in supply chain infrastructure

• 63% expect more warehouse space

• 57% expect more warehouses overall

• Transportation and labor costs expected to rise

• Only 22% expect faster order fulfillment

• Only 29% expect labor reductions

This paradox — more automation but no labor reduction — signals that automation will increasingly support quality, resilience, safety, and consistency, not just cost cutting.

And again:
More nodes + more automation = exponentially more need for orchestration.

5. Disruption Is Normalized — And Drives Network Redesign

Leaders expect the following forces to impact their networks through 2030:

• Cybersecurity threats (70%)

• Higher labor costs (69%)

• Labor shortages (66%)

• Natural disasters (63%)

• International tensions (62%)

This drives a shift toward:

• Nearshoring

• Regionalized networks

• Multi-node strategies

• Resilience-first planning

DHL’s data backs a growing trend:
volatility is no longer an anomaly — it is a design parameter.

6. Technologies That Will Reshape Supply Chains by 2030

Top technologies expected to have the biggest impact:

• Machine learning, predictive analytics, genAI (76%)

• Transportation technology advancements (73%)

• Warehouse automation & robotics (73%)

• IoT connectivity (71%)

Organizations expect a future where:

• Data is real-time

• Robotics is multi-modal and multi-vendor

• Transportation is partially autonomous

• Orchestration platforms coordinate end-to-end flows

• AI predicts rather than reacts

This is consistent with what best-in-class operators already pursue:
automation only works when connected, orchestrated, and data-driven.

7. Barriers to Optimization Are Internal — Not Technological

Top barriers:

• 57%: Fear of disrupting production

• 56%: Lack of internal expertise

• 41%: Financial constraints

This aligns with a broader industry pattern:
Organizations believe in automation, but often lack:

• Implementation expertise

• Integration architecture

• Operational design capabilities

• Robotics engineering talent

• Project capacity

• Ability to redesign end-to-end flows

This is why 3PLs, 4PLs, and specialist integration partners are gaining influence faster than hardware vendors.

Final Takeaway: The Future Supply Chain Is Not About Buying More Technology — It Is About Making Technology Work Together

DHL’s Insight 2030 report reinforces a central truth:

Supply chains are evolving into multi-system ecosystems where orchestration, interoperability, and data harmonization matter more than any single piece of automation.

Organizations that thrive will:

• Build vendor-agnostic automation strategies

• Adopt neutral orchestration layers

• Demand real-world robotics benchmarking

• Use digital twins and simulation to design flows

• Integrate humans + robots + systems into one coordinated model

• Strengthen cybersecurity foundations

• Avoid vendor lock-in as automation expands

Organizations that stagnate will be the ones still running disconnected systems by 2030.

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