Compact Robotic Solution Optimises 3PL

A compact and agile AirRob automated storage system by Libiao Robotics has been installed in the Shanghai warehouse of a specialist lean supply chain management service company.

Founded in 2001, Shanghai Shine-Link International Logistics (SLC) services the specific storage and distribution needs of precision-driven, high-end industrials, from medical devices to advanced electronics, and chemical reagents to mechanical parts. It offers a wide range of services, including supply chain management, international transportation, and various value-added activities.

With a client list comprising international brands such as Coty, Siemens, Pioneer, and Leica, SLC’s services are highly sought-after by companies whose exacting supply chain and fulfilment standards are considered above the normal needs of the average industrial customer. It has recently added a major medical devices, disinfection and hygiene products manufacturer to its list of prestigious customers.

“Smart Logistics” Model

SLC’s stated focus is on providing lean supply chain management services to international multinational companies based on accurate, timely and personalised IoT and digital services. It has developed a “smart logistics” business model with IT at its core, the goals of which include visual management of logistics processes, intelligent traceability management of products, intelligent warehousing and distribution management, and smart supply chain coordination management.

A significant element of this smart philosophy lies within the four walls of its warehouse facilities, where it embraces cutting-edge systems and practices to attract and retain customers requiring a 3PL that can go above and beyond the average SLAs for the sector. Therefore, to best service the medical device company’s particular storage and global distribution requirements, SLC converted a small area of its Shanghai distribution warehouse to a high-density, highly efficient Libiao AirRob storage system.

The system Libiao designed for SLC comprises an arrangement of standard warehouse racking serviced by just three hard-working AirRob robots which travel vertically and horizontally on the racking to store and retrieve goods quickly and efficiently. These are serviced by a small fleet of nine ‘floorbots’, which transport the goods to one of seven workstations, where the items are then readied for dispatch.

Reduced Energy Consumption

The multi-award-winning AirRob system offers significant advantages over traditional automated warehouse systems. Its modular design enables rapid installation on existing standard racking within one-to-four weeks without the need to alter existing infrastructure or flooring, making it ideal for retrofits or brownfield developments. AirRob operates in aisle widths as narrow as 0.85 meters, enhancing storage density by up to 30%. Each bot consumes just 150 watts per hour – lower than a microwave – reducing energy usage by one-third compared to similar systems. Its scalability allows for quick and easy expansion to meet growing demands. Additionally, AirRob’s efficient operation can triple throughput efficiency, offering a typical return on investment (ROI) within 12–24 months.

Ding Ling, General Manager of IT BU at SLC, commented on the project: “After going out to the market to compare the different systems and solutions that were available, we decided to select AirRob primarily for three main reasons. Firstly, the fact that Libiao Robotics is the inventor of this type of solution; secondly, the solution represents a good ROI for us; and thirdly, we were attracted by the potential energy savings we can make with AirRob.”

“We’re particularly proud to have been chosen as a supplier to such a prestigious and demanding customer,” said Ronan Shen, Libiao Robotics’ VP of Global Sales. “Not only have we provided a system that meets the precise needs of SLC, but we have managed to successfully achieve this in a particularly space-constrained area of a busy warehouse, without disruption to its ongoing operations. Furthermore, the project represents the first AirRob installation in the medical supplies sector, an industry that lends itself well to the characteristics of AirRob, such as high efficiency and accuracy, a high density of storage, low energy usage, and the careful handling of delicate or valuable items.”

This smaller-than-usual AirRob installation at SLC’s Shanghai facility perfectly illustrates that companies can automate some repetitive tasks or part of their operations at a relatively low cost point, yet still make significant gains in efficiency and accuracy.

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Automation To Help Smooth Singles’ Day Peak

Originating at China’s Nanjing University in 1993 as a sort of anti-Valentine’s Day, Singles’ Day is celebrated by unmarried people in China on the 11th November. The occasion falls on that date because 11/11 represents four ones, or four singles, standing together.

Single people mark the occasion by spoiling and treating themselves to gifts and presents, but it wasn’t until Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba chose the date to offer heavily discounted merchandise on its platform for 24 hours, starting at midnight on the 11th November, 2009, that Singles’ Day became a major commercial event. And although it is not officially recognised as a public holiday in China, it has become the largest online shopping day in the world.

Retailers now use the occasion of Singles’ Day as a platform to generate more sales, and like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it has become stretched out to last a week or more. This has led to Singles’ Day becoming one of the world’s largest online shopping peaks and is growing in popularity in other countries.

The data around Singles’ Day is staggering. Online transactions in greater China grew 237% during Singles’ Day 2023 sales compared to the same period in October, and were up 9% YoY. Sales volume across all platforms on Singles’ Day 2023 is estimated to have generated $156 billion (€144 billion), making it the biggest global online shopping day ever. The total sales volume of traditional eCommerce platforms was cn¥923.5 billion (€120 billion). Livestreaming eCommerce platforms had a total sales volume of cn¥215.5 billion (€28 billion).

Of course, this enormous spike in volumes puts retailers’ supply chains and distribution networks under extreme pressure. Scenes of chaos at parcel hubs and fulfilment centres have become commonplace. As recently as five years ago, when retailers were still trying to figure out how to match the supply with the demand, some retailers pushed out their promised delivery timeslot from two days to over two weeks! There are famous images of heaps of parcels piled high on pavements, with angry shoppers literally climbing up them to retrieve their order.

To counteract such scenes, warehouses boosted their permanent staff by recruiting hordes of temporary workers for anything from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, all of whom needed expensive and time-consuming vetting, onboarding and training. Many rented extra storage capacity and hired additional trucks and delivery drivers as goods leaving the warehouses came in wave after wave. So, while the retailers may draw in considerable additional revenue during the Singles’ Day peak, it becomes diminished when the cost of expanding and then shrinking the fulfilment operation is taken into account.

However, smart eCommerce retailers are now turning to automated storage and tote handling systems in their distribution centres to ensure they can maintain service levels even during such volume peaks. For example, a system such as the 3D vertical sorter from Libiao Robotics enables retailers to handle exceptional volumes of items even at peak times.

Libiao’s 3D vertical sorter is a highly flexible solution – its capacity can be easily and quickly increased or decreased simply by adding or taking away robots. Also, at particularly busy times such as the period around Singles’ Day, additional sorting chutes can be added to cope with very high traffic sorting demands. The system has the additional benefit of being able to help couriers by sorting items according to their destination.

If set up as a single-layer system, it can handle up to 3,000 items per hour. A two-tier version doubles that hourly capacity, making it one of the best sorting solutions on the market for businesses who have previously struggled to process increased seasonal volumes. Requiring no infrastructural modifications or special floor surface conditions, the fully customisable T-Sort system is designed so that a single robot failure will not affect the rest of the operation, a must-have when a facility is already running at full capacity.

“In recent years, we have played our part in making sure scenes such as those mountains of parcels by the roadside are a thing of the past,” says Ronan Shen, Libiao Robotics’ Global Head of Business. “For example, our customer Skechers, after adopting Libiao’s robotics systems, have reduced dramatically their need for temporary staff during the Singles’ Day and Chinese New Year peaks. Rather than hiring additional people, they simply increase the number of robots for the peak season and can then promise their customers with confidence that all orders will come out on time.

“After the peak, we will come and take away the additional bots, ensuring the retailer is not paying year-round for redundant assets. Previously, they would also have needed to expand their available storage space to allow for the waves of orders being dispatched, but now with Libiao’s T-Sort and AirRob systems, that flow has become regulated within the existing footprint of the storage facility.”

Instead of large groups of warehouse workers scrambling to help the retailer meet the additional demand at peak times, Skechers’ Taicang Distribution Centre is a scene of relative calm at peak times, with only a couple of Libiao service technicians required to check that all is running smoothly.

“In summary, retailers are coming to us to provide a solution that will help them keep the promises they are making to their customers,” says Ronan Shen. “Libiao’s sorting solutions are flexible, modular and scalable, and designed to be rapidly and easily deployed in one to eight weeks, depending on the scale of the operation. Highly stable and offering picking accuracy greater than 99.99%, the system will increase throughput two- or three-fold versus manual picking, and deliver a very competitive return on investment.”

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Sortation Solution for Japanese Fashion Retailer

United Arrows, one of Japan’s leading fashion retail brands, has seen a significant increase in the efficiency of the order sortation process at its Tokyo distribution hub following the introduction of a mobile robot-based sorting system supplied and installed by LiBiao Robotics.

Since the company opened its first store back in 1989, United Arrows’ stylish range of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing has established a loyal following among Japan’s trend-conscious shoppers. Indeed, such has been the retailer’s success that it now has a portfolio of close to 300 outlets, while online sales are growing rapidly.

The Tokyo hub is one of two distribution centres that support United Arrows’ multi-channel operations in Japan. At each site replenishment stock is processed for next-day delivery to stores while online orders are also picked, packed and dispatched directly to those customers who prefer to shop via the company’s website.

To ensure that shoppers who visit one of United Arrows’ stores have the best chance of finding the items they are looking for in the right size, the company aims to deliver replenishment stock to every one of its retail sites before their doors open each morning and the first customers of the day arrive. And, with today’s online customers demanding rapid delivery, internet orders are picked within a matter of hours after being placed to ensure the speediest fulfilment time.

Meeting such demanding twin-channel order processing targets requires the most efficient and reliable intralogistics processes and technologies which is why, when assessing the various order sortation solutions on the market, United Arrows chose to install LiBiao’s ‘T-Sort’ system. With ‘T-Sort’ LiBiao’s iconic ‘Mini Yellow’ autonomous mobile robots are guided by integrated control software as they travel on a raised operating platform constructed within the Tokyo distribution facility’s sorting zone.

Before the arrival of the Libiao ‘T-Sort’ system warehouse personnel had to scan each item individually and cross-check that the details and instructions corresponded with the information given on the waybill of every order. Now, an operative simply places a picked item on to a Mini Yellow robot at the induction station and RFID scanning software allocates the correct destination and directs the robot there using the shortest, safest route.

Japanese Fashion

‘T-Sort’ is quick and easy to install and delivers future proof flexibility. If required, it can be easily relocated – so if, at some point in the future, United Arrows decide to reconfigure the sorting process they can do so with very little disruption to the business. Furthermore, should the number of orders processed at the Tokyo facility go up additional robots, as well as induction points and divert chutes, can be added as required. Of course, should volume fall, robots can be withdrawn and ‘mothballed’ until they are needed again. Thus, optimum efficiency is maintained and the lowest running costs are achieved at all times.

The T-Sort has been exceptionally well received by both management and staff at United Arrows. Yohei Uno, the company’s supply chain manager, comments: “The robots handle our order sortation seamlessly and have turned what was a very hectic and labour intensive part of our operation into a calm and controlled task. Our workers love the robots. Watching them go about their work is almost hypnotic and I even heard one colleague refer to the ‘Mini Yellows’ as ‘cute!’”

In Spring 2024 LiBiao’s range of autonomous sortation robots will be on display at two important European trade fairs. Logistics professionals can discover the many ways that LiBiao technology can benefit their business by visiting the company’s stand at LogiMAT (Stuttgart, Germany, March 19-21st).

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Airrob – Future Warehousing System

A new, ultra energy-efficient, robot-based tote handling solution from LiBiao Robotics is launched today – Airrob. Delivering high storage density, rapid and accurate picking and future-proof scalability, this exceptionally cost-effective, ground-breaking automated picking solution brings a host of exciting benefits.

Watch the video of Airrob here.

The Airrob tote handling system delivers high-storage density and a high flow rate by introducing automation to racking structures. It achieves efficient and intensive picking, storing and delivery of items. The system consists of Airrob, ground robots, racks, totes and work stations. Free from limitations of rack types, the system can be deployed in under a month and expanded.

One Airrob can pair with multiple ground robots. Twin-directional picking in aisle width as narrow as 850mm is possible, with just 10mm space between totes. One single Airrob can pick and store 150 totes per hour.

LiBiao is a global pioneer of intelligent sorting robots, and one of the world’s leading suppliers of flexible intelligent sorting solutions, creating the world’s first portable, modular and automated unit sorting system. The company integrates logistics automation, research and development, production and sales of intelligent equipment.

Since its establishment, LiBiao has always specialized in the development and innovation of logistics automation technology, emphasizing original intelligent technology, independent system bottom layer and application development. All of its products are independently researched and developed, and the company has accumulated over 100 exclusive invention patents. With the sorting robot series as the core, and the automatic control system, automatic scanning and weighing system, intelligent charging system as supporting components, LiBiao has gradually built up a rich product ecosystem for intelligent logistics applications.

Now, LiBiao’s intelligent sorting system has been widely applied across various industries and scenarios, including express delivery, supermarkets, retail, shoes & garments, medicine, catering, cold storage, book publications, manufacturing, etc. In addition, over 35,000 sorting robots are running in many countries and regions such as the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Europe. Its services cover markets worldwide, including companies such as: Walmart, Orbis, Mitsui & Co., MonarchFx, Nordstrom, Target, K-mart, USPS, China Post, Deppon Express, JD.com, ZTO Express, STO Express, SLC, etc.

Greek Post Using LiBiao Parcel Sortation

Some two years after introducing LiBiao robotic parcel sortation technology at its sorting centre in Athens, Hellenic Post (ELTA), the state-owned provider of postal services in Greece, has introduced additional robots, chutes and induction stations at the site.

The investment means throughput capacity at the Athens facility has been significantly increased and allows ELTA to provide next-day delivery services to several additional destinations throughout Greece. In all a total of 120 LiBiao autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are now deployed at the sorting centre in Athens. They scan each parcel’s barcode, weigh the package and, directed by sensors, empty it into the appropriate mail sack sited around the platform on which the robots travel.

Initially introduced as part of ELTA’s digital restructuring programme which was established to tackle the growing number of parcels generated by the growth of online shopping, the AMR-based sortation solution has enabled ELTA to improve the efficiency of its workforce by assigning personnel to more productive tasks.

Before the LiBiao sorting system went live, ELTA had undertaken parcel sorting manually – which was obviously extremely time consuming and labour intensive. It was also prone to errors which caused parcels to be delayed. Late deliveries were not only frustrating for ELTA’s customers and courier partners but also extremely costly for the company.

Since the parcel sorting function has been handed over to the LiBiao robots the process is three times faster, ensuring next-day delivery, while errors have been virtually eliminated.

With the additional robots, ELTA can now handle close to 125,000 parcels weighing up to 10 kg every day and, because each robot only needs to be recharged for five minutes every four hours, on-site power consumption and energy costs are minimised.

Based on the performance of the first phase of the installation ELTA expect this latest investment to pay for itself within two years.

Evi Arguriadou, ELTA’s head of sorting operations, comments: “Since the introduction of robotic technology our Athens facility has come to be regarded as a centre of excellence within our industry. We regularly host visits from executives from other parcel delivery services companies across Europe who are interested in the technology we have deployed. We are happy and proud to do so.”

LiBiao Robotics’ founder and CEO, Xia Hulling,commented: “The initial installation at ELTA and the recent extension highlights perfectly why LiBiao autonomous mobile robot (AMR)-based sortation technology is proving an attractive alternative to the high CapEx fixed tilt-tray and cross-belt conveyor-based systems that have historically been used within many busy parcel and e-commerce operations.”

Xia Hulling continued: “With no fixed infrastructure requirements, modular AMR-based systems are scalable and offer complete flexibility with additional robots easily introduced as and when they are needed. And, I am pleased to say that several of the companies that have visited ELTA’s Athens site to see the system in operation for themselves have become LiBiao customers too!” she added.

Established in 2016, LiBiao Robotics is a modern high-tech enterprise specialising in the development of robotic systems for the post, parcel and logistics sectors. The company’s autonomous mobile robot technology is in operation across China, Australia, New Zealand, South-East Asia and the USA, LiBiao Robotics is based in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province.

IFOY Test Report: Airrob by Libiao

As we move inexorably towards the moment when the IFOY Awards are handed out in Dortmund on June 22nd, we continue our look at all of the 2023 finalists and share the verdict from the IFOY test conducted during the evaluation by an expert jury in March. Our next entry is the Airrob container handling robotic system from Zhejiang Libiao Robots Co., Ltd.

Zhejiang Libiao Robots invented the world’s first sortation robots five years ago; now they have created another new robotic system named Airrob container handling robotic system. The robots can climb racks, and store, pick, sort, and move plastic containers, and the climbing robot can move vertical and horizontal direction freely. It is a simple, efficient and flexible system for the fulfilment centre or the work-line-side storage system.

Category: Intralogistics Robot

IFOY Test Report

Libiao Robotics has been nominated for an IFOY AWARD with its Airrob, a “climbing” container robot. Its maximum load capacity is 25kg.

The system is suitable for the vast majority of all containers in this weight class, about 95% according to the manufacturer, and virtually all racks. It allows a quick and easy installation, even when retrofitting existing warehouses. Adjustments to the floor are not required. However, horizontal rails must be attached to the rack, over which the Airrob travels along the rack. The maximum speed of the robot is 2m/s.

The Airrob is attached to a lightweight frame that moves along the horizontal rails through the aisle. This design allows the robot to “climb” up the shelves and store or retrieve the correct container on the shelf at any desired location. Each bin is thus directly accessible at all times.

The frame is flexible and automatically adjusts to the position of the robot. This ensures high reliability and fast, trouble-free and stable transport of the boxes.

The system is suitable for racks up to 12m high. In this case, however, Libiao mounts two Airrobs on top of each other, as this requires less adjustment.

A unique feature is the hook system used to move the crates in and out of the racks. The hook moves within the contours of the robot, which does not penetrate the shelves. This allows the boxes to be stored extremely compact. The hook system is suitable for handling totes on both sides of an aisle. This limits the aisle width to about 85cm.

The concept is lighter than a miniload, a multishuttle or an autonomous case robot (ACR). This is one of the reasons why energy consumption is low. Consumption could not be measured by the IFOY test team, but according to the manufacturer, the savings compared to competing solutions is more than 30%.

The battery built into the Airrob is maintenance-free and is charged when the tablet is switched on and off; according to the non-sliding touch charging principle. The rack on which the Airrob is mounted is powered by mains electricity.

In the Pick&Go setups during IFOY TEST DAYS, the Airrob worked with the manufacturer’s AMRs, but other configurations are also conceivable.

The concept is particularly suitable for micro-fulfilment centres and can also be used in ambient temperatures as low as -20°C, for example in cold stores.

IFOY test verdict: The Libiao Airrob container handling system can set a new standard for mobile robots and fundamentally change existing solutions. The Airrob is cost-effective, scalable, and efficient. The system saves space and labour. The unique hook system guarantees high storage density.

IFOY Innovation Check

Market relevance: The Airrob solution addresses manually operated warehouses that are to be automated cost-effectively using existing racking infrastructure and potentially inhomogeneous container systems. With an ROI of one to two years for the 10 installations currently on the market, the Airrob system is an attractive option for brownfield automation in diverse industries such as warehouse logistics, e-commerce, or manufacturing. Airrob can be used for rack heights between approx. 2m and 14m and is already economical in smaller warehouses starting at 100 sq m. The market potential is high due to the high flexibility of the system, the comparably low costs, the wide range of applications as well as worldwide marketing partners.

Customer benefit: The greatest benefit of Airrob is its flexibility and adaptability for use in existing warehouses without replacing existing infrastructure. This also results in manageable investment costs, which should be a fraction of fully automated systems. Set-up and commissioning are in the range of one to four weeks. Due to the modularity, additional robots can be temporarily integrated for more throughput at peak times. Compared to similar solutions on the market, Airrob is said to consume 30% less energy. In addition, the system is easily reusable in other operating environments.

Novelty / Innovation: Airrob stands out for its simplicity of design, which enables high efficiency and robustness at low cost. Nevertheless, several innovative details have been implemented for the applicability in a wide range of manually operated warehouses. The vertical guide is flexibly mounted on two horizontal rails on the rack, so that even inclined shelves can be approached with the appropriate inclination. A simple hook mechanism allows access to various standard containers from two parallel shelves. Unlike comparable solutions, a fast-charging mechanism ensures 24/7 operation of the pick robot, so fewer pick robots are needed overall.

Functionality / Type of implementation: The pick robot, a type of stacker crane, is designed to be simple and practical, enabling a rapid access time of about 30 seconds to the totes weighing up to 25kg. The throughput of containers can be scaled flexibly by dividing the tasks between the pick robot on the rack and the mobile transport robots. With a temperature range between -20°C and 50°C, freezer applications are also possible.

Verdict: With Airrob, existing rack storage systems for any standard containers can be automated very cost-effectively. The easily retrofittable and technically minimalist solution for removing totes from heights of up to 14m, in conjunction with a fleet of mobile transport robots, enables significant efficiency gains compared to manual warehouse management. Technical highlights include the simple but universal gripper for crate removal and return, adaptivity to typical real-world conditions such as sloping shelf layers, and a fast-charging function for 24/7 operation.

Market relevance ++
Customer benefit ++
Novelty / Innovation +
Functionality / Type of implementation ++
[KEY: ++ very good / + good / Ø balanced / – less / — not available]

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