KED Global: Coupang Unveils Plans to Invest $4 Billion in Logistics Automation

(Image Source: Bloomberg News)
According to industry insiders, Coupang Inc. plans to invest approximately $4 billion to automate its logistics infrastructure. Coupang, with its headquarters in Seoul, is the largest online marketplace in South Korea. The company's fulfillment facility in Daegu has the aesthetic of a massive laboratory and is expected to be fully operational in the second half of next year.
Under the new system, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) move shelves to workers as soon as orders appear on their digital assistants (PDAs). A blue light will indicate which item must be picked up by the employee, who will then place it on the robotic packing machine. After a customer places an order, the product is packaged and loaded onto a delivery vehicle within 10 minutes or so.
For the Daegu fulfillment facility, Coupang will be utilizing robots created by CMES, a provider of robotics and visual technologies based in Seoul. These robots can identify boxes of varying forms and sizes thanks to the high-resolution cameras and scanners mounted on their arms. Bom Kim, founder, and CEO of Coupang has promised to keep pouring money into machine learning (ML) and robotics-based process automation and optimization technology.
This month, Coupang's CFO Gaurav Anand also shared that the firm is sitting on $4 billion in cash with plans to invest it in further developing logistics automation technology. As long as the e-commerce giant's business model depends on advertising, third-party logistics, and finance, many predict it will continue investing massive sums.
"Just as the internet led the software revolution, robots will lead the future hardware revolution," said Cho Kyu-jin, the General Chair of Seoul National University's Center for SoFT meta-Human.
Source: Korea’s e-commerce giant Coupang to invest $4 bn in logistics automation
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