DSL Logistics

Good bots, great people: how DSL is building the future of logistics

Goodman properties are home to some of New Zealand’s most innovative businesses – and DSL (DSL Logistics NZ) is one of them. Its story blends people, progress, and a few smart robots.

From the outside, DSL looks like a modern logistics powerhouse. Inside, it’s a business that’s been quietly innovating for nearly 40 years – and now has the robots to prove it.

A family business built on code and curiosity

Founded in 1986, DSL was ahead of the curve long before automation became an industry buzzword. In its early days of customs brokerage, DSL built its own software to speed up documentation. By the early 1990s, it helped New Zealand Customs go paperless with one of the country’s first electronic data interchange systems.

“We’ve always written our own software,” says CEO John Widdows. “It makes us faster and more flexible – every client’s a bit different and we can build around that.”

That mindset of learning and scaling has shaped DSL’s growth. When the business branched into warehousing, it coded its own management system and introduced scanners early to reduce errors.