G R O UP M E M B E R S :

A RYA N T H AT E RA
H A R S H I L L JA I N
K R UTA RT H PAT E L
V I D I T M E H TA
 TYP ES OF ARTIF IC IAL INT ELLI GENC E
USED I N ALI BAB A WAREH OUS ES -

1. Machine Learning –
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and their smaller
cousins, automated guided carts (AGCs), transport
inventory around your warehouse.
2. Expert Systems –
Integrated  warehouse management software (WMS)
can be the hub of your warehouse operations.
Information can flow seamlessly from your sales
channels to order fulfillment, and then to packing and
shipping. Accurate data is what keeps things moving
without a hitch.
 TYPES OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE USED IN ALIBABA
WAREHOUSES -

3. Vision –
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and their
smaller cousins, automated guided carts (AGCs),
transport inventory around your warehouse. They
normally follow magnetic stripes or a track laid in
your warehouse.
4. Robotics –
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are like AGVs
in that they use sensor technology to deliver
inventory around the warehouse. However, unlike
AGVs, autonomous mobile robots don’t require a
set track or preset route between locations. AMRs
understand their environment through the use of
computers, onboard sensors and maps.
 IDENTIFYING AI TECHNOLOGIES USED
BY THE ALIBABA WAREHOUSES -

1. Smart Product search and Recommendation –

To make search and recommendation more relevant and holistic, Alibaba has developed
software it calls the “E-commerce Brain.” This system uses real-time online data to build
models for predicting what consumers want, models that through AI are constantly
updated for each individual to reflect not only past and recent purchases but also a range
of online activities such as browsing, bookmarking, commenting and other actions

2. Smart Customer Service –

At Alibaba, chatbots are all business. If you call Alibaba with a question or a complaint,
more likely than not you’ll be connected not to a human customer service agent, but to a
computer system called Ali Xiaomi 
.
3. Pervasive Personalization –
Online merchants are always striving to better engage with customers, thereby
increasing click-through rates and ultimately conversion rates (sales). Alibaba is helping
them achieve this through highly targeted, AI-assisted marketing. Merchants selling on
Tmall and Taobao are able to personalize their virtual storefronts for individual visitors,
offering real-time, tailored product recommendations based on purchase histories, age,
gender, geographic locations and a host of other data points.

4. Smart Logistics –
Cainiao Network, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, was founded in 2013 with a group of
shipping and delivery companies to create a logistics information platform that links a
network of partners, warehouses and distribution centres.
 ALIBABA WAREHOUSE
ROBOTS

• Currently Alibaba operates in around 3,000

sqm. warehouse with almost 70% of the work
is done by Automated Guided Vehicle called
Zhu Que.
• The company started using robotics in their
warehouse in 2017 while preparing for
China’s Singles Day Shopping event on
November 11.
• According to CNBC, Cainiao processed
800mn packages on Singles Day, which
earned US$25bn in sales. In total 700 robots
were used.
• Fun fact: the first industrial robot was used
by General Motors in their automobile factory
in New Jersey in 1961 which was called
UNIMATE.
• Alibaba’s delivery bots are equipped
with laser sensors which allow them to
quickly scan the surroundings.
• These robots can identify objects, map
routes and prevent collisions.
• They have self-charging batteries, and
Wi-Fi to receive instructions.
• They can move at the speed at 5 meters
per second and lift 600 kilos at a time.
• In case of low battery, they can
automatically go to their respective
charging stations on their own. A 5-
minute charge is enough for them to
carry on their activity of 8 hours.
 BENEFITS OF USING
ROBOTS

• Robots help organization gain

efficiency gain in their daily
functioning.
• They are time saving.
• They help in reducing the
operational cost in an organization.
• Robots are way less expensive then
labor. Moreover, the average price
tag put on industrial robotic
solutions has dropped to $45,000 in
2018, whereas in 2009, it totaled
$63,000.
W H AT S PE C IF I C B E N E FI T S A LI BA B A
H AV E D ER IV E D FR O M A I R O BO T S

Reduce warehouse
operational cost
• These robots has reduced 70% of the
manpower in the warehouse
• 5 minutes of charging can last for 4 to
5 hour “very cheap as compare to
labor”
• Main robots in warehouse has a
capacity to carry up to 500Kg of
weight.
 WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS
ALIBABA HAVE DERIVED
FROM AI ROBOTS

Speeding warehouse operation

with high accuracy
• These robots have AI, which help
Alibaba warehouse to gain high
accuracy in very efficient way.
According to Wang, the smart
warehouse can fulfill 50% more
orders than a traditional one
within the same timeframe.
• These robots can automatically
pick up a parcel and deliver them
to another part of the
warehouse, where it is then
picked up by a delivery firm
 W H AT H A S B E E N A L I B A B A
C OM P E T IT I V E A D W H AT H A S
BEEN ALIBABA
C OM P E TI T I V E A DVA N TAG E
B E C A U S E OF A I A D OP T I ON
VA N TAG E B E C A US E OF A I
A D OP TI O N

Lower Error Rates

• Last year on Singles Day — also
known as the Double 11 shopping,
they have processed over 800 million
packages
Higher Customer Satisfaction
• With the use of this technology they
can process parcels more efficiently,
and with this they can eventually able
to deliver parcels to anyone in China
within 24 hours.
 W H AT H AS B E E N A LI B A BA
C O MPE T I T I VE ADVA NTAG E
BE CA U S E O F A I A D O PT I O N

Innovative Brand Image

• Besides increased customer
satisfaction, robotics can boost
your brand image. You can present
your company as faster and better
than ever. By advertising your
robotic technology, you signal to
potential customers that you are a
cutting-edge and innovative brand.
 The robots already being smart
and efficient, in future will be
given a new and better design
so that their movement can be
swifter and quicker. Also, these
robots will be able to lift twice
the weight they can now.
THEIR FUTURE
PLANS Currently, the robots handle
70% of the work on their own
but in the future this will
change. The human
involvement will be almost
minimal so that the work can
be more efficient and can go on
24/7.
 In the future, Drones will be added
to these warehouses so that the
packeges can directly be taken by
the drones and delivered in less
time.
THEIR FUTURE
PLANS There will come a fusion of traditional
retail and e-commerce in futuristic
sales points that would ensure free
deliveries in 30 minutes within a
distance of 3 km, facial recognition
systems, mobile payment apps and QR
code.
 OTHER INTERESTING FACTS AND
FIGURES

• Traditionally, a worker could sort 1,500 products during a 7.5-hour

shift after taking 27,924 steps; with the help of Zhu Que (name of
the robots), the same worker could sort 3,000 products during the
same period of time and only 2,563 steps need to be taken.

• As efficiency improves, Alibaba increases its shipment capacity. Thus,

on Singles Day, one of the most popular Chinese holidays, Alibaba’s
sales revenues reached a staggering $25.3 billion (in 2017).