Have you ever imagined such a scene: In the future, in any logistics center or factory, workers can realize unmanned and intelligent working scenes with one click on a computer or mobile terminal...
All this is accelerating into reality.
In the past decade, the explosion of online retail has driven the vigorous development of upstream and downstream industries. For example, in the field of logistics equipment, Dema Technology was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in June this year, and Lanjian Intelligent was successfully reviewed and approved by the Science and Technology Innovation Board recently. Companies such as Kailes, Muxing Intelligent, and Kunhou Automation have successively obtained financing and have become the hot spots in the capital market in the logistics field.
Today, warehouse automation is not new, and it needs to develop to a higher level in the future. How do you understand this?
DHL introduces the concept of Warehousing 4.0, which is an extension of Industry 4.0. That is, warehouses have highly agile and scalable response capabilities to support enterprises to adapt to a more agile and flexible supply chain; people and machines form a new symbiotic relationship, through the collection, calculation and transmission of large amounts of data, digital instructions are transmitted to the physical world, and intelligent business analysis capabilities are possessed; conform to the trend of new technologies integrated in the real physical world, such as collaborative robots, sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G technologies, to reduce costs, transform operations, create strategic advantages, and optimize the most precious resource - people. Logistics equipment companies need to combine the information technology of the Industrial Internet and enter the era of Warehousing 4.0.
At present, the country’s “new infrastructure” policies and capital are accelerating the development of this era. At the same time, many logistics equipment companies are standing at the crossroads of upgrading from automation to intelligence.
Inspiration at the Crossroads of Transformation
Today (November 3), the four-day CeMATASIA exhibition, a "barometer" of the smart manufacturing industry, officially opened in Shanghai. Many companies showcased their latest products and solutions, which to a certain extent represent the development direction of the industry. Roggo's research report shows that in the digital economy era that is about to sweep the world, technologies such as IoT and AI are strategic parts of corporate transformation. This exhibition showcased a series of products using technologies such as IoT and AI. The emergence of these new technology products also means that the Internet of Things will connect the world in a new way!
Source: Rogo Research
Taking Damon Technology as an example, this exhibition showcased several new products with IoT and AI technologies, including the multi-layer shuttle system, single-piece separation system, and Dimensity equipment health management software. For example, the Damon multi-layer shuttle system conveniently uses the leading AI intelligent scheduling algorithm, and is based on its digital IoT digital service platform - Dimensity equipment health management software. With many years of experience in large-scale projects and scenario implementation, it breaks through the data barriers between devices, monitors the automated operation of the entire system in real time, and achieves stable and efficient system operation around the clock.
The efficiency of inbound and outbound storage is 1200 boxes/hour, and the running speed can reach 4 meters/second
All the new products launched by Damon reveal the company’s belief in technology and are moving towards becoming a technology-based company.
It can be said that as a logistics equipment company with more than 20 years of history, Damon’s growth history is a microcosm of China’s logistics equipment history, and Damon’s transformation history may bring some inspiration to everyone.
Transform from traditional automation to intelligent and digital
Looking back at the entire history of warehousing equipment, the old model of "forklift + pallet + conveyor belt" has become "yesterday's news". The rapid penetration and rapid iteration of new technologies have made warehousing equipment more and more "smart" and "intelligent".
In 1997, Dama started out by producing core components such as conveyor rollers, which was the origin of Dama's genetic ability to manufacture core components; after 2003, Dama began to produce automated logistics equipment such as slider-type and cross-belt high-speed sorting machines, and also solved the equipment scale problem that was worrying in the industry at the time, and proposed the concept of building personalized systems through standardized modules; in 2012, Dama decided to focus on conveying and sorting as the company's core business. This move just happened to conform to the rapid development trend of e-commerce at the time.
During these stages, Dema has been undergoing a transformation from mechanization to automation of standard modules. It is this process that has enabled Dema to possess large-scale manufacturing capabilities and enable new technological achievements to be quickly industrialized.
In 2016, Damon transformed into a smart logistics and smart manufacturing solution service provider, which coincides with the concept of Industry 4.0 and the smart manufacturing strategy. This year, under the strategy of "global enterprise with the strategy of IoT + Internet", Damon launched two IoT cross-belt sorting machine products, which integrate cutting-edge technologies such as IoT, machine vision, 5G and BI analysis, support the grasping of objects of various shapes, reduce the human participation links to the extreme, and accelerate the logistics equipment into the era of IoT.
Today, Dema is exploring the technological path from intelligence, digitization to wisdom.
From smart logistics to smart manufacturing, covering the entire industry chain
The combination of steady progress and opportunities of the times enables Damon to provide logistics equipment manufacturers, system integrators and end customers with complete solutions from core components, key equipment to system integration, and its business covers the entire industry chain of logistics equipment.
With technological solutions covering the entire industry chain, Dema has successfully gained a number of well-known customers such as JD.com, Suning, Cainiao, Vipshop, eBay, SF Express, Hema, Huawei, etc., covering various industries such as e-commerce, express delivery, clothing, medicine, new retail, and intelligent manufacturing.
From these customers, we can see that Damon has many customers whose daily warehouse and distribution order volume and SKU scale are in the millions. This places extremely high demands on the efficiency, stability and accuracy of the system equipment. Therefore, there are not many companies in China that can undertake large-scale logistics center projects for e-commerce express delivery. A steady stream of large customer orders, more than 3,000 project experiences, and accumulated smart logistics technology have laid the foundation for the smart manufacturing field that it is exploring.
An industry insider once vividly explained the relationship between smart logistics and smart manufacturing. If smart manufacturing is compared to the human body, then the equipment is the human organs. With the support of the brain, which is the information system, smart logistics serves as the blood vessels connecting the organs, transporting nutrients to the human body and maintaining life. After going public, Demon will accelerate the use of intelligent logistics capabilities to connect the important links of material supply and production and create system solutions for smart factories.
Listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and Global Layout
As mentioned above, in June this year, Dema successfully landed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, which is also a further affirmation of its technological capabilities by the market. After the IPO, the number of R&D personnel at Dama has grown from 169 to 220, accounting for 20% of the total number of employees. In its industrial chain, Dama has applied for and obtained 143 patents, and has formulated a number of national and industry standards. From the perspective of the proportion of its core technology revenue to operating revenue, the proportions in 2017 were 83.97%, 82.82%, and 90.56%, respectively... These data further prove that Dama has implemented core technologies and firmly believed that science and technology are the primary productive forces.
According to the prospectus, after listing, the funds raised by Dema will also focus on digital workshop construction projects, intelligent conveying and sorting system industrial base transformation projects, and new generation of intelligent logistics conveying and sorting system research and development projects.
Under the accelerating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, automation technology will further accelerate its development, among which countries and regions such as the United States, Europe, China and Southeast Asia will become key markets. For more and more Chinese companies, "going global" has been pulled to a strategic position. As early as 2010, Damon formulated a complete internationalization strategy, and has a clear leading advantage in global operations compared with its domestic counterparts. It has currently accumulated more than 150 overseas customers, with annual overseas business revenue increasing by 42% year-on-year, accounting for 21.24% of its main business revenue.
From automation to digitalization and intelligence, from components and key equipment to system solution services, from domestic to global... Damon is practicing step by step in the field of logistics equipment in China and transforming into a technological enterprise, trying to grasp the pulse of future technological explosions.
Seize the explosive opportunities of digitalization and intelligence in the field of logistics equipment
According to the latest report from LogisticsIQ, the global warehouse automation market is estimated to reach a milestone of US$30 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 14% between 2019 and 2026.
It is obvious that under this explosive growth, digitalization and intelligence have become core demands. At the same time, the digital retail era is driving the development of logistics systems, shifting from traditional warehousing-centered to warehouse and distribution-centered. Conveying and sorting equipment, as the core equipment of the warehouse and distribution center, accounts for as much as 36% of the value, becoming a key factor in the efficiency of the entire logistics system.
At the same time, regarding the future development path of equipment technology, Zhuo Xu, chairman of Dema Technology, believes that one is to combine the latest technology with the traditional automated conveying and sorting system consisting of conveyor lines and sorting machines; the other is the new conveying and sorting equipment represented by mobile robots (such as AGV).
These are also the two main technical trends in the current automated conveying and sorting systems. The efficient operation of huge amounts of parcels in the future will be inseparable from the conveyor line type automated conveying and sorting system based on new technologies. This system is suitable for large and medium-sized logistics centers. New conveying and sorting equipment represented by mobile robots is more flexible and scalable. Due to its low cost and rapid deployment, it will be the first choice for small and medium-sized warehouses in the future.
The products and system solutions of these two technical routes have their own strengths and complement each other. Therefore, for a long time in the future, the two will coexist and develop, each occupying a place in the smart logistics and smart manufacturing markets.
While adhering to these two technical routes, according to Dema's plan, in the next three years, while maintaining the sustained growth of its smart logistics business, it will extend from the smart logistics field to the smart manufacturing industry, seek opportunities for large-scale growth, actively explore international markets, and accelerate the completion of its international layout.
According to DHL's research, many intelligent technologies of Warehousing 4.0 are still in the development stage, and most companies are still in the initial stages of deployment. Just as companies like Damon are transforming and deploying digitalization, intelligence, and wisdom in advance, the market may usher in a wave of concentrated explosion in the future. The bonus brought by this is that while the logistics center has higher productivity, higher efficiency, faster throughput, and higher employee job satisfaction, it can really achieve unmanned and intelligent one-click operation...
(Author | Logistics Mahjong Hu Yuanyuan | Logistics Salon)
