Looking East at the Future of Logistics物流未来看东方

The logistics arm of Alibaba， Cainiao， has been pioneering warehouse automation within China， as online shopping has been spurred on by its parent company’s growing e-commerce platform， Taobao. The e-commerce sector， worth $1.9TN （three times the size of the US market）， delivers 64BN parcels per year in China alone. Leading the way in recent years by developing more efficient logistics operations and building out a national ‘smart logistics network’， Alibaba now embarks on an aggressive logistics expansion in China and abroad.

Automation in the warehouse

China’s smartest warehouse， according to Cainiao， is located in Wuxi， China. The warehouse is home to 700+ automated guided vehicles （AGVs） that are equipped with WiFi and self-charge. Each robot is like a large Roomba vacuum cleaner， sweeping through a 3，000 square meter warehouse to carry up to 500 kilograms of goods across the warehouse. This dynamic means that when someone makes an online purchase in China， the AGV is activated to pick up the order within the warehouse so that human warehouse staff can assemble and ship it out.

Not just in the warehouse

Xiao G is Cainiao’s delivery cart of the future. Every hour， the 3 × 5 foot autonomous vehicle—complete with sensor technology to safely navigate roads—will pick up packages from a delivery depot1 in Hangzhou and tour a nearby neighborhood to make its delivery runs. Locals meet the driverless cart at a delivery point， pin in a reference number to open up the designated door flap2 and pick up their purchased online goods.

Expanding overseas

Cainiao isn’t just targeting oper-ations in China. It is also forming alliances with foreign partners to expand its business overseas.

Cainiao Network3 has opened a sorting and cargo facility at its Liege Electronic World Trade Platform （eWTP4） hub located at Liege Airport in Belgium.

The smart logistics hub is a key part of the agreement made in 2018 between Alibaba Group and the Belgian government to join the global eWTP initiative， which aims to lower barriers to global trade for small and medium-size businesses via e-commerce. The project located at Liege Airport is expected to create 900 jobs when it reaches full scale.

The 30，000m2 warehouse is divided into two parts： a 12，000m2 air cargo station for the rapid transit of goods for both export and import between the airside and the landside of the airport; and an 18，000m2 parcel sorting center that organizes parcels according to their destinations across Europe. A four-story office building is adjacent to the warehouse.

The facility is equipped with Cainiao’s latest logistics digital technologies such as its handheld LEMO5 personal digit- al assistant （PDA）. The air cargo station is equipped with an automated material handling system that avoids heavy lifting work. It will also be equipped with radio frequency identification （RFID） detectors so cargo can be identified automatically when going into the warehouse， to further digitize the flow of goods.

Over the past few years， along with the construction of the eWTP Liege Hub， Cainiao has been strengthening its logistics infrastructure to provide a more efficient and seamless cross-border logistics experience across Europe. It also， working closely with Euopean logistics firms， developed an intra-Europe trucking network that covers more than 30 countries， and has been installing a network of parcel lockers6 in Spain and France to improve customer experience and improve last-mile delivery efficiency.

Last November， Cainiao Network announced it is to establish a smart warehouse network in Southeast Asia， which will cover a total land area close to 2，500，000m2， across Vietnam， Indonesia， Malaysia and Singapore.

The network will comprise Cainiao Hubs， also known as cHubs， and be strategically located near key transportation nodes and manufacturing hubs in the region to tap into7 the regional ecosystem’s connectivity to global markets to build a resilient supply chain.

Equipped with cutting-edge technologies， the cHubs will play an instrumental role in the transformation of the logistics industry in Southeast Asia. Cainiao also hopes to put cHubs in a prime position to establish an innovative supply chain infrastructure while supporting local B2B and B2C businesses in their local distribution， supply chain and export needs.

Eric Xu， general manager of Cainiao Smart Hub， said， “It has always been Alibaba’s core mission to make it easy to do business anywhere. Strong export markets will be able to benefit from Cainiao’s supply chain management services which will drive export demand.”

菜鸟是阿里巴巴集团旗下的物流部门，致力于开创中国自动化仓储的先河;其母公司的电子商务平台淘宝不断发展，推动了网上购物。电子商务行业市场规模价值1.9万亿美元（相当于美国市场规模的三倍），每年仅国内就交付640亿件包裹。近年来，阿里巴巴不断引领潮流，发展更高效的物流业务，建设全国性的“智慧物流网络”，如今更是着手在国内外积极扩张物流业。

仓库自动化

据菜鸟介绍，中国最顶尖的智能仓库位于江苏无锡。该仓库拥有700多辆配备WiFi和自动充电功能的自动导引车。每辆导引车就像一台大型Roomba扫地机器人，在占地3000平方米的仓库里穿行，搬运重达500公斤的货物。这种动态模式意味着，一旦国内有人进行网购，就会激活自动导引车在仓库内接单，以便仓库工作人员配货并发货。

配送自动化

在未来，小G将成为菜鸟的配送车。这辆3英尺×5英尺的无人车应用传感器技术来确定安全的行驶路线。每小时，它都会从杭州的一个配送站提取包裹，并在附近社区进行配送。当地居民在送货点与无人车会合，输入取件号，打开指定柜门，取走他们在网上购买的商品。