With labour shortages affecting global markets, logistics businesses in particular are seeking ways to automate repetitive tasks and help manage operational costs. Increasingly they are turning to robotic solutions such as the innovative AirRob system from Libiao Robotics. In Taiwan, where the labour shortage is particularly acutely felt, Toyota Material Handling Taiwan, the importer of intralogistics systems and forklifts manufactured by the Japanese automotive giant, chose the recent Taipei International Logistics Show to introduce AirRob’s capabilities to the Taiwanese audience.
With 166 employees working out of eight service locations in Taiwan plus two further locations in Mainland China, Toyota Material Handling Taiwan reshaped its business in 2003 in response to the developing changes in industry trends. The opportunity arose to transform Toyota Material Handling Taiwan from a pure forklift business to one that provides customers with holistic automated solutions for logistics warehousing and storage.
“In the past, the customer’s main premise to introduce automation has been return on investment,” said Huang Mingren, General Manager of Toyota Material Handling Taiwan. “But now the lack of labour has become the primary problem. AI is becoming more and more mature, and in addition to being intelligent and shareable, equipment now being introduced should also be highly flexible. In Japan and Taiwan, in terms of logistics automation, traditional equipment such as automatic warehouses, conveyors, sorters, elevators, electronic labelling and picking systems are still widely used. But we have now entered an era where intelligent warehouse automation equipment is transforming the industry, accelerated by eCommerce-type logistics.”
This year, Toyota Material Handling Taiwan introduced Libiao’s AirRob system into its range of intelligent warehouse solutions. Meeting the demands of high-density and high-traffic warehouse operations such as those experienced in eCommerce operations, “AirRob has the characteristics of high return rate, high flexibility and high efficiency,” continues Huang Mingren. “According to the projects we have executed, the staff can not only increase the speed of operation by more than 50%, but also significantly shorten the training period. In terms of the operation platform and equipment, the number of robots can be flexibly increased or decreased according to the demand, and if the scale is expanded or the site needs to be moved, it can be easily moved or reconfigured.
“It is an intelligent robot with a very high degree of flexibility and freedom; it can be very small or very large, and it can have great expandability to meet the needs of different customers under different operating modes. Our mission is to create solutions together with our customers and partners. It is my dream that our company can be the benchmark in Taiwan in the field of intelligent storage, and at the same time have the opportunity to bring us and our partners to the world market. We are an integrated platform, with reputation, knowledge, technology and capital. With the launch of our intelligent storage solutions, I believe that we will have the strength to lead us to be bigger and stronger.”
Taipai International Logistics Show
Taking place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Centre, the Taipei International Logistics Show saw Toyota Material Handling Taiwan formally introduced the comprehensive Libiao AirRob 3D sorting system to demonstrate the warehouse automation services and solutions it can provide to its customers in Taiwan. Libiao’s CEO, Xia Huiling, was invited to share the company’s innovative solutions in the food and footwear industries, and to describe how Libiao can provide cutting-edge technology to help alleviate the current labour shortage problem in Taiwan’s logistics sector. With a large demand for personnel, difficulty in recruiting workers, and a high turnover rate, businesses in Taiwan often need to recruit a large proportion of temporary workers, particularly when facing seasonal business growth. The emergence of AirRob provides an effective solution to help solve these challenges, she said.
During her speech at the Smart Logistics Forum held during the exhibition, Xia Huiling discussed Libiao’s efficient sorting solutions for food, clothing, housing and transportation. After highlighting several of AirRob’s significant benefits and advantages – such as the need for no infrastructural modifications to the existing shelving, no special requirements for ground flatness, its fast deployment, its highly efficient goods-to-person operation, and its ability to easily conform to Taiwan’s stringent environmental regulations – Xia Huiling discussed in detail an application of the AirRob system at the Skechers footwear and apparel distribution centre in Taicang, Mainland China, a project which not only won the 13th LT Award China Logistics Technology Innovation Application Award, but has also been shortlisted as a finalist in Europe in two categories of the prestigious Robotics & Automation Awards 2024.
Xia Huiling furthermore analysed the current status and trends of international cold chain logistics in 2024, pointing out that the industry is developing rapidly, especially in Europe and Asia-Pacific, with great potential. The market segments of fresh food and pharmaceutical logistics are expanding, but they face challenges such as temperature control management, cost control and difficulty in recruiting workers. She also explained how Libiao’s intelligent sorting solutions can cope with these challenges through successful cases of the company’s applications in fresh food projects such as Dingdong Maicai, Hema Fresh, Meituan Youxuan, and South Korea’s HY.
The addition of Taiwan to its already extensive operations in Asia-Pacific means Libiao Robotics is strongly placed to service the growing needs of customers in the region. Furthermore, Libiao is expanding to serve its growing customer base in the European market, having recently established a regional headquarters in Frankfurt.
similar news
Taiwan Election Unlikely to Impact Chip Supply Chain
