The company manufactures intelligent, electrically motorized exoskeletons that provide back relief of up to 30 kilograms when lifting heavy objects. In a two-month test at DPD's parcel center in Malsch near Karlsruhe, the workers put the devices through their paces and found the robots to be a practical support in their day-to-day work - which is why the test is now being extended.

An exoskeleton is a support device that can relieve pressure on different areas of the body, depending on its design. The Cray X model from the manufacturer German Bionic is strapped to the wearer's back, similar to a hiking rucksack, and then fixed to the body. The device only needs to calibrate itself briefly using the built-in sensors and is then ready for use. The Cray X works in two ways: Firstly, it keeps the wearer's back straight at all times. Secondly, the device helps to straighten the back when picking up a parcel. Two motors controlled by intelligent software pull the wearer upwards by the shoulders and the force is redirected to the thighs, among other things. This provides up to 30 kilograms of back relief with each lifting movement.

The Malsch site is an ideal test balloon, primarily due to the customer structure. One of the major regional customers sends over 860,000 parcels of copy paper from here every year. Each of these parcels weighs around 26 kilograms. During the two-month pilot test, two Cray Xs were used on site. "The Malsch depot was ideal for testing the Cray X under particularly physically demanding conditions," says Björn Scheel, Chief Operating Officer at DPD Germany.

Helpful when unloading heavy parcels
The employees on site are already impressed by the exoskeleton: their feedback has been particularly positive, especially when unloading parcels from swap bodies and articulated lorries. This is because the Cray X supports them best when they are working within a manageable radius: "As the Cray X sits tightly on the body and is also connected to the thighs, it slightly restricts the wearer's mobility. When unloading parcels, employees always remain in one place. This is why the Cray X is particularly suitable here. It is less suitable for workstations where long distances have to be covered," says Scheel.

Following this generally successful first run, the next step is a long-term test. DPD will subsequently deploy a total of seven Cray Xs at the Duisburg, Leupoldsgrün and Malsch sites. DPD and German Bionic intend to intensively examine the measurable advantages of long-term use, the conditions under which the exoskeleton is particularly helpful and whether it would also make sense to use it at other DPD locations. In addition, both partners want to work together to achieve hardware and software optimizations that will enable an even broader field of application for the exoskeletons at DPD.