Alibaba to deploy 1 million smart delivery vehicles to improve logistics efficiency

Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba, said it will strengthen the deployment of artificial intelligent (AI) technology in its courier network by putting 1 million smart logistics vehicles into the market to cope with exploding delivery volumes in the future – expected to reach 1 billion a day within a decade.

The smart logistics vehicles, co-manufactured with other automobile companies including SAIC Motor Corp and Dongfeng Motor Corp, will optimise the delivery route for the couriers based on Cainiao’s advanced big data and algorithms, Cainiao Network’s president Wan Lin said at a logistics forum in Hangzhou on Monday.

According to Cainiao, the new smart vehicles have been introduced in Shenzhen and Chengdu as part of a trial programme, where they reduced travel distance and air travel rates. The logistics industry could see savings of as much as 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) annually after all the vehicles are put in services within the next decade, the company estimates.

Cainiao is pushing forward with its smart logistics initiative because a “consumption upgrade” in China will drive the evolution of new logistics systems which will require the entire logistics industry to optimise its efficiency to the fullest, according to Wan.

Logistics firms in China need further investments in talent and technology to cope with an expected 10 fold increase in delivery volumes from the current 100 million a day, Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma Yun said at the same event.