Robots way of the future for delivery industry

By Ma Chi | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-04-27 16:54

Robot employees have become increasingly popular, being used in express delivery companies in China, because of their efficiency.

New footage, recently released by China Central Television, has highlighted the efficiency and success of robots functioning within the delivery sector, working in harmony alongside humans in a factory at Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province.

The robots, which can be seen lining up to receive and send parcels in the video, are able to successfully sort through small packages less than 60cm in length and 50cm in width, by scanning the QR code on each order.

With a speed of three meters per second, the team of robots can sort through 18,000 packages per minute, and can operate for four hours before needing to be self-charged. The robots can work around the clock and have already increased work efficiency at the delivery factory in Yiwu.

According to the report of CCTV, the orange-plated robots have already reduced the factory's human labor force by 70 percent.

The robots were developed by a company in Zhejiang province, and were put to work in July.

After viewing the footage, many web-users have voiced their concerns for the future of employment.

"What will we, as humans, do if robots eventually take our jobs from us," one netizen, commenting on Sina Weibo, said.

Another netizen then referred to the comments made by Steven Hawking, stating "machines will become more and more sophisticated to the point where it will go against human beings."

"Robots will replace the human labor force one day, and that is a worrying prospect," the netizen said.