DHL opens Americas Innovation Center near Chicago

September 13, 2019: DHL has inaugurated a state-of-the-art 28,000 square foot facility, Americas Innovation Center near Chicago, in a move to expand its global innovation footprint to the Americas region.

Located in Rosemont in the Chicago area, the Americas Innovation Center will be a collaborative space for DHL to work with its customers, technology partners, and academics, as well as tap the innovative power of its employees.

The Americas Innovation Center is in line with the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf near Bonn, Germany, and the Asia Pacific Innovation Center in Singapore.

"Now with three Innovation Centers around the world, DHL can leverage the power of innovation to serve customers and play an active role in shaping the future of logistics. DHL is an organisation that prioritises thinking differently to deliver excellence, and I'm proud we now have this platform in the Americas to extend these capabilities to partners in their own backyard," said Ken Allen, CEO of DHL eCommerce Solutions and board member for customer solutions & innovation at Deutsche Post DHL Group which looks after DHL's largest customers.

The opening event drew more than 300 guests including technology and logistics industry leaders, customers from across the region, local officials and DHL senior leadership.

"Innovation enables DHL to be at the forefront of game-changing solutions for the supply chain industry," says Matthias Heutger, global head of innovation and commercial development at DHL.

"The Innovation Centers are the nucleus of our customer-centric innovation approach. They provide the platform for understanding emerging trends and discovering insights with the potential to drive real-world business impacts. DHL was the first player to utilise picking robots, for example, in North American warehouses. Self-driving robots to support order picking can increase picking rates up to 200 percent which is significant in a fast-moving, globalised e-commerce environment," added Heutger.