OCEAN EAST International Logistics Co Ltd, located in Lin-gang Special Area, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of A.P. Moeller Maersk Group. It had become a fully-fledged "E-warehouse" before the epidemic began, largely sparing it from the labor shortages plaguing other companies.

Previously, the OCEAN EAST warehouse was a third-party logistics warehouse with an area of 6,000 square meters and including 4,000 warehousing slotting. After an intelligent layout was established and six single channels and two double channels were set up, automated guided vehicle (AGV) were able to pick-up, move, and shelve items, take inventory, and perform other warehousing operations.

"The AVGs are basically unmanned forklifts," said an employee of the company.

An AVG performs warehousing duties. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

Workers just need to pack items on blue pallets with special bar codes and place the pallets in a designated pick-up location; then, the AVG will pick up the pallets.

A "mission accomplished" message will be transmitted to the system after the operation is completed. It takes about three minutes for the AVG to complete an goods-in or goods-out operation.

It takes about three minutes for an AVG to complete an operation. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

When the AVG's battery is at less than 10 percent charge, it will automatically go to the charging area to charge itself. After reaching more than 90 percent charge, it will continue performing assigned tasks. AVGs can work for up to 10 hours on a single charge.

"It's difficult to find qualified forklift operators," said an employee at the company, adding that the use of AVGs not only saves on labor costs, but also greatly improves accuracy and safety.

He pointed out that the AVG relies on system path settings, not optical guidance, allowing it to accurately access goods without switching on lights at night.

The E-warehouse currently has seven AVGs.

It is a pity that the AGV cannot be fully implemented because the shape of the items used has strict requirements, something which the company plans to improve in the future, according to an employee of the company.

The company has also implemented a reservation system to reduce waiting time for delivery drivers and increase efficiency. Several value-added services are offered by the company to cater to customer needs.