CJ Logistics is accelerating its push into physical AI-driven warehouse automation, putting humanoid robots to work in a live distribution center operation.
The company said on the 3rd that it has deployed two dual-arm humanoid robots at an Olive Young distribution center in Yangji, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, assigning them to product packaging. It is the first case of humanoid robots being used in a working logistics operation in South Korea. On the packaging line, the robots insert cushioning material into boxes.
CJ Logistics moved into commercial deployment this year after successfully testing humanoid robots on site at its Gunpo fulfillment center last year. The company plans to feed operational data gathered on the job into artificial intelligence training, steadily improving the robots' accuracy and their ability to handle varied situations.
Humanoid robots are drawing attention as a way to address the limits of existing warehouse automation equipment. Because distribution centers must handle a wide range of products and orders, fixed installations alone can only go so far. Humanoids can work within existing setups and be shifted flexibly across multiple processes.
The company plans to expand the range of tasks assigned to the robots in stages. Starting with packaging, it will use data collected on site to broaden their role into more complex work such as picking, sorting and inspection. Over the longer term, it aims to develop general-purpose logistics humanoids capable of performing several warehouse processes in sequence with a single machine.
CJ Logistics is also expanding partnerships with outside specialists and research institutes to advance the technology. It is working with Robotis on hardware, Aidin Robotics on robotic hands and RealWorld AI on robot foundation models.
"By combining logistics data gathered in the field with AI technology, we will refine humanoids so they can judge and carry out a range of tasks on their own, and over the long term build a future-oriented fulfillment environment where people and robots work together," said Kim Jung-hee, head of CJ Logistics' TES Logistics Technology Research Institute.
