Alibaba’s Cainiao teaming up with automotive manufacturers for “smarter, greener delivery fleets”
Cainiao Network, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, has announced that it is partnering with Chinese automotive manufacturers to make one million green-energy delivery vehicles that will be equipped with Cainiao’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. According to a notice posted on the semi-official Alibaba news site Alizila today (23 May), the manufacturers – who include SAIC Motor and Dongfeng Motor – have “committed to produce electric delivery vans equipped with computer hardware and software based on Cainiao’s advanced big data and algorithms, providing drivers with optimal delivery routes based on real-time traffic and order information”.
The Aliza notice added: “Cainiao said it would work with partners including Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial to provide financial support of 50bn yuan ($7.3bn) for logistics firms and delivery drivers participating in the plan.”
Cainiao has claimed that its technology can help to cut energy consumption, operation costs and air pollution.
The company said that its research showed that China’s logistics sector has “grown by more than 50% for six consecutive years due to the increasing popularity of online shopping and e-commerce” – and so the optional environmental and operational benefits of route optimization could be huge.
The Alizila article said that some 80m parcels are delivered every day in China, adding up to 31.3bn a year, and it quoted Alibaba chairman Jack Ma as saying that “in the next 5 to 8 years, the number of parcels in China may surge to 1 billion per day”.
Speaking at a Global Smart Logistics Summit which Cainiao sponsored in Hangzhou yesterday (22 May), Ma said that responding to this surge in demand was a major challenge for the logistics business and added: “The only solution to this challenge is to invest in cutting-edge technology and cultivate young talent, and all of us need to work together collaboratively.”
