Cainiao climbing robot iteration accelerates; efficiency improves by 15%

Reported by Li Li, China Economic News

Cainiao's self-developed climbing robot system recently debuted at the Asia International Logistics Technology and Transportation System Exhibition (CeMAT ASIA 2026), showcasing its four-way picking, dual-deep storage capabilities, as well as a new robot scheduling system and warehouse planning simulation system.

It is understood that the launch of these new capabilities makes robot turns smoother, increasing operational efficiency by another 15% and storage density by 20%, while customers can self-generate warehouse simulation planning maps to intuitively and quickly understand the investment and return of climbing warehouses.

This also marks Cainiao leading the development of the climbing robot track, covering multiple scenarios such as multi-SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), high-traffic inbound and outbound, and irregular terrains, meeting the needs of industries such as cross-border e-commerce, footwear and fashion, 3C electronics, FMCG retail, medicine and health, and automobile manufacturing.

A reporter from “China Business Report” saw on-site that, unlike the industry standard of only being able to pick boxes from two sides, Cainiao's climbing robots, after climbing onto the shelves, can directly pick up boxes from a total of four sides—front and back on both sides of the aisle. At the same time, the climbing robots can not only pick up the outer layer of boxes in direct contact but can also directly reach the inner layer of boxes, achieving double-deep storage.

On-site, Cainiao also demonstrated a warehouse planning simulation system, which will also be opened to customers. After inputting warehouse dimensions and order volumes, the warehouse planning drawings that previously required several days to complete can be finished by AI in 10 minutes, including equipment selection and warehouse planning layouts, and can simulate real situations for trial runs, allowing customers to know the investment and output situations more clearly before launching a project.

Yang Bin, General Manager of the Logistics Robot Business Department of Cainiao Logistics Technology, introduced that Cainiao's climbing robots continue to make progress, having delivered multiple benchmark projects globally. With the upgrade of capabilities, project deployment and warehouse operation efficiency are both improving, and multiple new orders have been obtained in key markets, with the overseas market share reaching 40%, and the overseas market share is expected to reach 80% in two to three years.

Bi Jianghua, President of Cainiao Logistics Technology, stated that Cainiao continues to look favorably upon the field of logistics robots, constantly strengthening investment in the logistics robot field, and accelerating the expansion of global key markets through differentiated products and perfect services to ensure rapid delivery. Return to the previous page for more information