Robots ensure efficient logistics in Wuxi

Cainiao Network, an Alibaba Group's logistics arm, will put its first IoT (internet of things) Future Park into use for the upcoming "Double Eleven" (Nov 11) shopping frenzy.

The park, located in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, owns nearly 700 robots called "little blue", making it China's largest robot intelligent warehouse, aiming to increase logistics efficiency and reduce management costs.

Application of IoT technology, along with other latest technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, helps transform manual work into real-time online and automated work.

Smart devices in the park are able to automatically recognize faces, instruct trucks and also identify potential risks and send automatic alarms.

Cameras equipped with algorithm technology at the warehouse can automatically calculate the stock and changes of goods, and send real-time feedback to the dispatch system. The efficiency of the entire park is currently 20 percent higher than that of traditional parks.

Cainiao's AVG (Automated Guided Vehicle) robots can pick goods from shells carrying an order box. At the warehouse, nearly 700 robots form a busy intelligent transportation and working system. They are able to avoid each other and charge themselves.

The warehouse in Wuxi IoT Future Park has a reserve five times that of common warehouses. Parcels can be automatically assigned to more than 200 road directions in East China when they are ready.

Cainiao robots are flexible with China's volatile logistics market, making it easier to promote them to the whole logistics industry.