The Friday Report Blog: September 30th, 2022

DHL Supply Chain Accelerates Robotic Partnerships Just in Time for Peak Season

DHL Supply Chain and Locus Robotics recently announced that they are intensifying their fulfillment automation partnership to two of DHL’s Ohio warehouses. The launch of autonomous mobile robots at the fulfillment centers are intended to support an increase in order fulfillment for the retailer, Carharrt. The tech will be utilized to control operating and labor costs in addition to boosting DHL’s peak season production capacity. Last year, the companies announced that 2,000 Locus robotic machines would be implemented into DHL’s facilities this year. DHL and Locus have partnered since 2017.

DHL is Locus Robotics largest customer, with over a dozen of their warehouses using Locus technology. In June 2022, DHL celebrated Locus bots picking over 100 million units across the North American continent.

Locus has also announced an agreement with DHL competitor, Geodis, to bring 1,000 LocusBots into their warehouses by the end of 2024.

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Ford Breaks Ground on Electric Vehicle Campus

Ford Motor Company announced that they have commenced construction on a $5.6 billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant. The Stanton, Tennessee plant is being built to expand the company’s goal of manufacturing 2 million electric vehicles per year by the end of 2026.

The facility, named BlueOval City, is expected to open in 2025. It is part of a global partnership with South Korean battery maker, SK On, and will include a battery cell factory and assembly plant for Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. In addition to BlueOval City, Ford is also building three battery factories to boost in-house battery production. Two of those facilities will be in central Kentucky while the other will be constructed in Tennessee.

Ford has stated that BlueOval City will house several EV component suppliers which will enable it to better control its supply chain.

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U.S. Department of Transportation Approves Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

The United States Department of Transportation announced that all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C., have been given approval to begin building electric vehicle charging stations. The Biden Administration has stated that it will provide states with access to $1.5 billion in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to build the charging stations. These stations will cover roughly 75,000 miles of highway throughout the nation.

In June of 2022 as part of his plan to halt the climate crisis, the Biden Administration declared a goal to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030. He is also requiring all new cars built in the U.S. to produce 10% less greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2023.

 Currently, the nation only has 47,000 charging stations.  The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill allots $7.5 billion in funding for charging infrastructure. This includes $5 billion for states to install the charging stations that they build and $2.5 billion for specific community programs related to the charging station. 

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