A four-way robot of Megvii's Matrix8 Storage system. (Provided by Megvii)
BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- "We finally met." After a long flight of over 10 hours with a transfer of planes in February 2023, Kyriakos Bertsos, head of automation at the Greek company VOYATZOGLOU, and mechanical engineer Nikolas Nomikos landed in Shanghai and finally met with their "online friends" from Chinese AI company Megvii. Prior to this, the two parties had been in contact for more than half a year through emails and video conferences. The topic of discussion was the application of intelligent systems in warehousing and logistics.
The cooperation between Megvii and VOYATZOGLOU accelerated after this meeting, and began to provide AI warehouse robot system solutions based on the actual needs of clients. Today, the first application project in Europe has landed in Romania, and the high-efficiency and high-flexibility cold storage system has effectively reduced the warehousing investment and operating costs of the Romanian company Doly Com. While ensuring product quality and safety, it also allows workers to work more decently.
AI Technology Contributing to Smart Logistics and Warehousing
As the largest warehousing automation integrator in Greece, VOYATZOGLOU has deeply felt the huge opportunities brought about by the labor shortage in the warehousing and logistics industry in recent years. They have actively sought automation system suppliers who can provide high-quality, stable and intelligent systems to help clients deal with the challenges brought about by the shortage of labor.
Megvii, which has focused on the Internet of Things scenarios for more than 10 years, has continuously explored the application of AI technology in logistics handling. It has formed three standardized subsystem solutions: Matrix8 Storage, Hybrid Handling, and Hybrid Picking, which can be used by integrators and end clients alone or in combination. In recent years, Megvii has begun to expand its overseas market, focusing on traditional manufacturing and logistics industries that have always relied on manual labor.
It was against this background that the application of AI technology and the needs of logistics and warehousing hit it off, and the two companies embarked on a cooperative journey of mutual benefit.
In China, Kyriakos and Nikolas visited Megvii's Shanghai office and project site, and then spent a week undergoing software and hardware training at Megvii's Suzhou factory. The two parties also gained full confidence in each other's capabilities in terms of project delivery and after-sales services.
Kyriakos and Nikolas receive hardware training at Megvii's Suzhou factory. (Provided by Megvii)
Next, the two companies collaborated on large-scale exhibitions in Greece, Germany and other places, where their management teams had in-depth exchanges and their technical teams began to closely cooperate on development. Finally, the jointly developed AI warehouse robot system solution got its first client in 2024: Romanian company Doly Com.
In March 2024, Megvii and the VOYATZOGLOU team attend an exhibition in Germany. (Provided by Megvii)
Working Closely Together for the First Project in Romania
Doly Com is the largest slaughterhouse and meat processing enterprise in Romania. With the increase in market demand and its business expansion, Doly Com was facing challenges such as the low efficiency of traditional warehouse management systems, the harsh working environment for workers in low-temperature conditions, and a shortage of personnel.
The cooperation results of Megvii and VOYATZOGLOU were tailor-made to address these challenges. In the early stages of project consultation, the two parties conducted customized designs for the cold chain storage scenarios of the meat enterprise. Next came a good cooperative construction: VOYATZOGLOU mobilized local engineering resources to assist Megvii in construction, shelf erection and the installation of lifting, conveying, network, IT and robot systems. Finally, the AI robot system was successfully integrated into Doly Com's production and warehousing processes.
Before the new system was applied, Doly Com stored goods on the ground, and the vertical space inside the warehouse was not utilized. The new system adopts a warehouse AI robot solution based on four-way pallet robots. Relying on robots with flexibility and extensibility, the entire three-dimensional space of the warehouse can be filled. "Compared to the traditional warehouse, the storage density can be increased by more than three times," said Xu Qingcai, head of Megvii's robotics business.
In addition, through the management and scheduling with AI software, the storage method and areas of goods, outbound sequence, and overall handling efficiency can be optimized and improved. Kyriakos introduced that the system can store different products in different areas based on whether it is conventional meat or halal meat, and can also automatically select the goods that need to be sent out first according to the expiration dates, and monitor the goods close to expiration dates and issue early warning. Every night, the system will automatically transport the goods that need to be sent out the next day to the outbound exit in advance, thus saving handling time.
"For scenarios like cold storage where the operating cost per unit area is high, the full utilization of storage space brings even greater benefits to an enterprise," said Kyriakos.
The photo shows the Megvii Matrix8 Handling system's AMR+ four-way robots. (Provided by Megvii)
People-Centered Approach Allowing for "Decent Work of Everyone"
Before the application of the AI robot system, all operations in Doly Com's warehouse required employees to wear cotton coats and work in extreme freezing environments. Employees who work in cold storage for a long time are prone to catching a cold or even getting sick. In severe cases, it may cause sequelae, which can be detrimental to the physical and mental health of employees.
In an automated warehouse, the entry, storage, handling and exit of goods are all completed by four-way pallet robots. The operators can monitor the inventory and the operating status of the robots in real time on the control platform in the central control room. Therefore, operation workers no longer need to work in the warehouse of minus 25 degrees Celsius.
Representatives of Doly Com, VOYATZOGLOU and Megvii pose for a group photo at the project site. (Provided by Megvii)
"AI technology and the robot system free workers from the low-temperature cold storage facilities, and subsequent manual operations can be performed in a relatively high-temperature refrigerated environment, which greatly improves the working environment," said Qin Yaqun, product marketing manager of Megvii, adding that in the future, this technology can be replicated and promoted to industries such as pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, and cold chain logistics. It will have broad application prospects, especially in scenarios that require efficient warehousing and fast sorting, and can enhance workers' well-being and promote enterprise profitability. (Li Tangning)
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