We’ve written in the past about robots in warehouses, so it should be no surprise to learn that Alibaba also make use of them. They’re not really robots in the true sense of the word, but better described as automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) and are capable of following lines or wires in the floor to navigate their way around the warehouse.
Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, Cainiao has the largest Chinese army of AGVs in their Huiyang Guangdong warehouse. Each AGV can lift half a metric ton so the racks that they transport around the warehouse can carry pretty large loads of inventory. The idea is that the AGVs transport racks to the pickers and packers who don’t have to leave their station and Alibaba calculate that it cuts the time required to process as item for an order by two thirds.
The video below shows Alibaba’s AGVs in operation.
