GXO Logistics, Inc. (NYSE: GXO), the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, announced today that it has been named the overall winner of Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine’s (SDCE) 2024 Top Supply Chain Projects award for its industry-first pilot of humanoid robotics.
This marks the third consecutive year that GXO has received a top project award and the first time it has been selected as an overall winner. “We’re delighted to be recognized by SDCE for our leadership in the development of humanoid technology to drive new efficiencies in the most labour-intensive parts of the supply chain,” said Adrian Stoch (pic), Chief Automation Officer, GXO.
“We have made the strategic decision to prioritize the humanoid category of our R&D agenda, based on the potential for broad applications combined with the benefit of reducing repetitive heavy lifting tasks for our warehouse associates.” GXO partnered with Agility Robotics to test ‘Digit,’ a humanoid robot, in actual warehouse operations at its SPANX facility in Flowery Branch, Georgia.
The pilot focused on training Digit to undertake repetitive tasks, such as removing totes from autonomous mobile robots and placing them onto conveyors. SDCE magazine and Food Logistics established the “Top Supply Chain Projects” award to profile “innovative case study-type projects designed to automate, optimize, streamline and improve the supply chain.”
SDCE is known as the executive’s user manual for supply and demand chain transformation. Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics said: “The past 12 months have seen companies within the supply chain and logistics space upgrade, enhance, adopt and adapt in order to achieve greater efficiency along the chain. Companies implemented others’ software and technology to work smarter, together.
“Their partnerships cultivated resilience and placed a spotlight on projects designed to make the supply chain space safer and more efficient. And now it’s time to celebrate those projects!”
GXO leads the industry in innovative technology. In 2023, GXO increased its total units of warehouse automation by about 50% year over year and further entrenched its technology leadership position through trialling a broad range of new hardware and software solutions, AI‑powered robotics and autonomous vehicles.
