Coupang unveiled for the first time an automated logistics site based on artificial intelligence (AI) and big data at the Daegu Fulfillment Center (Daegu FC).
Daegu FC is one of the largest logistics centers in Asia. This is a combination of logistics technology and AI-based automation innovation that Coupang, which started rocket delivery in 2014, has accumulated over the years.
Daegu FC, which has introduced various state-of-the-art technologies, is evaluated as a “state-of-the-art futuristic logistics center” that drastically lowers the work intensity of employees and provides a safe working environment, while raising the quality of rocket delivery service for customers.
Coupang recently unveiled a smart logistics process that uses AI automation technology to manage products and help employees work, from product display to picking, packaging and sorting.
Coupang invested more than 320 billion won to build Daegu FC and build an automated fulfillment system.
Daegu FC, which is the size of 46 soccer fields (2 floors below the ground and 10 floors above the ground), applies various state-of-the-art logistics technologies, such as automated guided vehicle (AGV), sorting bots, and driverless forklifts, which are the largest in Korea based on a single logistics center, to the main logistics business building.
Coupang introduced more than 1,000 AGV robots to the 7th and 9th floors of Daegu FC, automating the display and picking of products. Previously, it was a Person to Goods (PTG) method in which an employee went back and forth between the shelves containing numerous products one by one to find the items ordered by the customer.
However, Daegu FC introduced Goods to Person (GTP) logistics technology, in which an AGV robot lifts up to 1,000kg shelves with hundreds of products on display, moves them along the QR code attached to the floor, and delivers the goods to employees.
With AGV, the entire work step is reduced by 65%, and shelves with hundreds of products are delivered to employees in an average of two minutes. This is a key automation technology that improves customer experience, such as rocket delivery, because it operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including holidays with high order volumes.
“Daegu FC has created a more comfortable and easier working environment for employees through digital transformation of logistics," said Jeong Jong-cheol, CEO of Coupang Fulfillment Service. "We will do our best for the development of local small businesses and local communities, including steady job creation based on cutting-edge logistics infrastructure incorporating AI-based product management and automated robot technology.”
