Will the warehousing robot industry be shuffled? Still continue to meet the next spring?
 Time: 2019-03-07   Click:
Since the beginning of 2015, the heat of the domestic storage robot industry has never really cooled down. Whether it is the number of new warehousing robots or the capital market's chips for this track, they are hitting record highs, refreshing people's perceptions and expectations of the industry. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 30 companies in China that provide storage robots as the main business. In 2017 alone, the financing amount of the whole industry exceeded RMB 1 billion, which is several times that of 2016.

The true face of an industry, perhaps only the practitioners are most clear. To what extent is the logistics warehousing robot industry developing? Does the superficial prosperity really represent the status quo of the industry? Is it a false prosperity or is it really ready to go?

In addition, what should customers pay attention to when choosing a robot solution? From the blue ocean market to the Red Sea, will new companies still have room to survive? This article takes you through the analysis of the storage robot industry.

The industry competition pattern is becoming clearer, and the first echelon company has significant advantages.

First, let's distinguish between AGV and smart storage robots.

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) refers to an automatic guiding device equipped with electromagnetic or optical, which can automatically travel along a prescribed guiding path without driver, with security protection and various transfer functions. Transport vehicle.

The intelligent warehousing robots referred to in this paper are improved and upgraded on the basis of traditional AGV, and the performance is more efficient, which is more in line with the needs of the intelligent logistics era. Intelligent warehousing robots support more advanced navigation methods, such as QR code navigation, laser navigation, SLAM navigation, etc. Especially SLAM navigation can achieve complete trackless, free path walking, greatly improving the flexibility of the storage robot. In addition, the intelligent warehousing robot also has powerful back-end system support, and supports multi-robot coordination, path planning, autonomous navigation, and no manual intervention to complete warehouse operations such as automatic picking/handling/sorting.

The development prospects of intelligent warehousing robots in China are good, and many companies have entered this field. The just-concluded CeMAT ASIA 2018 is arguably the recognized downfall of warehousing robots. However, with the continuous development of the industry, the division of the echelon has gradually become apparent, and the first echelon has clearly opened the gap with the rear echelon. Geek+, Kuocang, and Haikang Robots still occupy the most important components. Whether it is technical maturity or industry experience, these three are firmly in the first echelon of the domestic market.

Geek+ robot

According to public data estimates, Geek+, Kuocang, and Haikang have a market share of 80-90% in China, which is a veritable first echelon. In the second echelon, Ai Ruisi robots, road innovation, and animal husbandry intelligence have also received certain attention from the capital market. However, from the application case, operational experience and robot shipments, the second echelon is still far from the first echelon. It is not easy to overtake the corner.

At present, the warehousing robot industry is still a relatively young industry. The stability of the system and the failure rate of the robot affect the customer satisfaction and evaluation more or less. Compared with most warehouse robot companies, several head enterprises of the first echelon have focused on improving the quality of customer service, paying more attention to the stability of the robot system and whether the robot system can solve the customer's pain points. It also marks the constant industry. Advance and develop forward.

In terms of market size, the storage robot market has maintained rapid growth in the past three years, and all companies can benefit from it. However, how to maintain long-term market competitiveness will be a very important topic.

The industry lacks absolute standards, and the stability and safety of robots are the primary considerations for customers.

Although the heat of storage robots is not reduced, there are still only a few companies paying for the bills - the original statement is not accurate enough, and some customers who eat crabs carry out warehousing robot projects, not for practicality and efficiency. At present, the market demand side is returning to calmness and rationality. Usually customers will start testing from the pilot project (POC), and once the business test is passed, it is possible to make large-scale replication.

Objectively speaking, after several years of gestation, the warehousing robot industry has a tendency to grow and develop, but the entire industry is still at an early stage and needs further maturity. The industry lacks norms and industry standards, and product stability does not reach expectations, which will bring certain hidden dangers to the operation. At the same time, some robotic warehouses have also exposed problems such as robotic instability caused by shelf collapse, or robotic fire events caused by battery problems. These accidents have a very serious impact on the operation and safety of the warehouse, and even affect the safety of the warehouse personnel.

The stability and safety of robotic products will be a top priority for customers. At this point, the first echelon company highlighted a clear advantage, focusing on product safety and security earlier. Geek+ and Haikang Robots have released the news that their products have passed the European CE certification this year, on the one hand, to better develop overseas markets, and on the other hand, to make efforts in equipment stability and safety, to give customers enough confidence.

Robot solutions are inseparable from powerful and stable systems, and the endorsement of the case is an effective market strategy.

In addition to the robot itself, another key part of the warehousing robot solution is robot control and scheduling? system. The system's functionality, scheduling capabilities, and stability have been recognized by the industry as the core competitiveness of robotics companies. Especially in the domestic market, all e-commerce customers will go through various big promotions such as double eleven, and whether they can pass the test of the big promotion period is often an important means to verify the capabilities of the robot system.

In the past double 11 promotion, the quick-selling robots reached hundreds of thousands of peaks in the rookie warehouse in Wuxi. In the same period, Geek+ also disclosed the good performance of single-warehouse single shifts to achieve 100,000 orders, as well as the national robots in the same period. The warehouse handled a total of 5 million singles. In addition to adapting to the double eleven of e-commerce, the system's ability is also reflected in the ability of each company to meet customer needs and solve industry-level pain points for different industries. Therefore, it is the most effective way to develop the market by mining representative customers and application scenarios in various industries and speaking with facts and facts.

The higher the threshold of the comprehensive industry, the new company may not be optimistic

Due to the heat of industry and capital, there will still be more new companies involved in the warehousing robot industry. So can these companies survive and thrive? In fact, the answer may not be optimistic.

It can be observed that the comprehensive threshold of the warehousing robot industry is getting higher and higher. In addition to the robots and systems, other factors that determine the customer's comprehensive experience include consulting planning, engineering implementation, service system, etc., and capital capabilities cannot be ignored. A key to it. At present, the head enterprises have occupied a large share of the market. If the new players can't break through in a short time, in the case of a competitive situation, especially in the segmentation field where the market concentration is very high, followers The advantage of latecomer is not outstanding.

In the first half of 2018, the number of IPOs listed in China's A-share market and the amount of funds raised decreased year-on-year. Among them, the number of IPOs listed in the first half of 2017 plummeted by nearly 70%. The coldness of the capital winter is overflowing with words. It is reported that in 2018 (simply supplement the financing situation of the warehousing robot industry, for example, the amount is reduced, etc.), the capital market will accelerate the integration and shuffling of the whole industry. If the head enterprise can maintain its continuous strength, it can smoothly enter a A higher and more stable stage; but it is undeniable that under the attack of capital winter, the demise of some enterprises will become inevitable.

So is it effective to develop some differentiated solutions? These can only wait for the market to give us the answer. The warehousing robot industry will continue to welcome the next spring, but not everyone's spring. b