The context
DHL Supply Chain is the contract logistics division of Deutsche Post DHL Group — the world’s largest logistics company, operating in more than 220 countries and territories. DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland manages a network of warehousing, distribution, cross-docking, and hub operations serving major customers across retail, FMCG, electronics, healthcare, and e-commerce.
For DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland, cross-docking hub operations are central to its service proposition — enabling customers to move goods rapidly between inbound and outbound flows without the cost and delay of traditional warehousing. Hub operational performance directly affects the SLAs DHL makes with its customers and the profitability of the contracts it holds.
As DHL’s customer base increasingly demands real-time operational transparency, standardised service delivery, and measurable KPIs, the absence of a purpose-built hub management system had become a structural constraint on both performance and commercial growth.
The challenges
DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland operated its cross-docking hubs without a dedicated solution. Execution relied on operator experience, manual coordination, and the indirect use of systems built for other purposes — none designed for the specific demands of high-velocity, multi-customer cross-docking.
On the floor, manual lane assignments created poor space utilisation and congestion at peak. Inbound flows were uncoordinated, with no advance shipment notification processing. Supervisors had no real-time view of hub activity, making exception handling reactive. Error rates were high and directly attributable to the absence of guided execution.
Commercially, DHL could not offer the kind of standardised, measurable hub performance that major accounts — particularly Fortune 500 shippers — increasingly required. No unified KPI framework existed. No consistent visibility into hub events could be shared with customers. This was becoming a direct barrier to winning and retaining contracts with sophisticated shippers.
In the UK & Ireland, DHL conducted an exercise to select a preferred cross-docking solution as we didn’t have one. The most functionally rich solution was MIXMOVE.
Our solution
MIXMOVE deployed MIXMOVE HUB OS at DHL Supply Chain UK & Ireland’s Bristol Regional Operating Center — the first hub in a planned network-wide rollout. Bristol ROC is one of DHL’s largest UK cross-docking operations, handling a diverse mix of customer flows across electronics, FMCG, and e-commerce.
MIXMOVE HUB OS was implemented as an intelligent cross-docking execution layer, connecting to DHL’s existing WMS and ERP without requiring system replacement. The platform ingests inbound flow data, generates cross-docking execution plans, and translates those plans into operator guidance via handheld devices on the shop floor — directing each operator to the correct lane, sequence, and task at every stage.
For DHL’s joint operation with 3M, MIXMOVE introduced the intelligent reconstruction model: rather than processing customer-specific factory pallets running at 35–40% truck capacity, goods are broken down and rebuilt into destination-optimised, full-height mixed pallets at the hub. Trucks that previously ran at 35–40% fill now regularly achieve 90%+ fill rates on long-haul and final-mile lanes.
The execution model: how it works
- Order-specific cartons are created at the shipper’s origin, each identified with a unique SSCC barcode for end-to-end traceability
- Full-height mixed pallets are built at origin — combining cartons from multiple customer orders to maximise load density
- Fully-loaded trucks transport these pallets to DHL’s order reconstruction hubs at 90%+ fill rates
- At each hub, MIXMOVE HUB OS manages reconstruction: scanning each carton individually, matching to the correct delivery order, directing operators to the correct outbound lane
- Final-mile delivery is executed from destination-optimised outbound loads — reducing vehicles required and improving delivery accuracy
