Postal carriers could get help hauling heavy packages, according to a report in the Mirror. Germany’s Deutsche Post is testing robots to help with the increase in packages.
“Clemens Beckmann, head of innovation at Deutsche Post, told Reuters: “Robots could be used in deliveries in three to five years’ time. The technology is there. Delivery chains in which people and robots work together will soon be normal and will allow for faster and more efficient processing of goods.”
Fortune picked up the Reuters story, writing, “The robots, which look like a table on wheels on which goods can be placed, would follow delivery workers, helping them to transport and carry heavy parcels. If the postie stops walking, the robot stops too, and it only starts again when they move on.”
In a press release on the Deutsche Post DHL Group website, the company goes further:
“Just like our children can’t picture a world without computers, it is likely that their children will feel the same way about robots. Developing the next generation of robots that can work around and among people will take a substantial investment to advance the technology but at DPDHL Group we believe that soon supply chains will see humans and robots working side by side to handle goods faster and more economically.”
