In the nearly 100,000 square meter modern factory at Li Ning East China Intelligent Logistics Center in Huadu District, hundreds of robots are moving swiftly along designated tracks, performing independently and rapidly such tasks as storage, retrieval, sorting, and transportation. This is the peak achievement of Guangzhou Hengyan Technology Co., Ltd. in flexible integration and a vivid practice of its empowering of the intelligentization upgrade of national brands.

Technological revolution: from "people finding goods" to "goods finding people"

As a pioneer of flexible automation in warehousing logistics in China, Hengyan Technology, a company based in Huadong Town of Huadu District, has gradually developed the concept of 'replacing humans with machines' into a quantifiable industrial revolution over nine years. In the words of Hengyan Technology, it is a technological revolution from "people finding goods" to "goods finding people".

It takes as short as 15 minutes to complete the process from order placement to shipment. A worker in the traditional storage model has to climb the shelves more than 200 times, and handle over 3 tons of heavy objects in an average day, which not only generates potential safety hazards, but also demands high physical quality of the worker, while at the same time has only relatively low operating capacity and low storage efficiency per square meter. The support of this system makes real differences. According to Li Zenglin, Deputy Director of Hengyan Technology, the Li Ning East China Intelligent Logistics Center built by the company has nearly 100,000 square meter in floor area; as the first intelligent logistics warehouse of Li Ning that has been officially put into operation, it has a storage capacity of 10 million pieces, and a single-day handling capacity up to 600,000 pieces; its storage efficiency per square meter has increased by 60%, and its comprehensive labor efficiency has increased by 100%.

Hengyan Technology has independently developed the WES + intelligent warehousing system, bringing the “flying “experience to the consumers. Based on the dynamic algorithms optimized by professors at Harbin Institute of Technology, the system can plan optimal paths in real time, so that the robot sorting efficiency is improved 560% over the manual mode. The order cycle time has been cut from 48 hours to as short as 15 minutes after the order is placed by the consumer.

Core advantage: flexible integration that drives intelligent manufacturing upgrade

High speed movement of goods in perfect order The shackles of traditional warehousing is completely smashed; the data-driven new pattern of flexible logistics is operating vigorously, installing strong “smart engines “for the generation of new quality productive forces in the industry. As observed by the person in charge of Hengyan Technology, WES+ system is like the “intelligent brain” of the storage area, which can seamlessly integrate more than 20 types of equipment, such as four-way shuttle, and latent AGV, etc.

In contrast with the “rigid” mode of traditional warehousing, where fixed equipment and processes make expansion difficult, Hengyan Technology's flexible system can be dynamically adjusted with business fluctuations. According to the company's technical director, when a new equipment is added, there is no need to reinstall the system, just connect the equipment to the system, as simple as plugging a USB flash drive in the computer, and it is ready to run.

Enterprise's choice: stand in Huadu, and face the nation

In 2016, attracted by the “pragmatic and efficient” government ecosystem of Huadu District, the founders of Hengyan Technology chose to settle their enterprise here. All relevant government agencies of Huadu District also provided full assistance for the development of the enterprise. In the early stage of the company's development, the Industry and Information Technology Bureau of Huadu District accurately found land for its site, and the Market Supervision Bureau of Huadu District opened a green channel for its patent approval; when the company planned to expand overseas markets, the commerce-related agencies of Huadu District took the initiative to assist it in applying for subsidies, and finding access to resources of international exhibitions. What touched the enterprise more is the fact that Huadu District specially allocated spare parts warehouse for the enterprise's use, which has cut the enterprise's response time for maintenance of equipment in South China to 2 hours, which is 300% faster than the industry average.

“Huadu is not only a livable place, but also a promising land for industrial upgrading,” said Li Zenglin. Now Hengyan Technology is operating throughout the country, and has been awarded the honors of Contract-honoring and Trustworthy Enterprise of Guangdong Province, and High-quality Taxpayer of Guangdong Province, for five consecutive years; what is more, it has been recognized as a provincial HNTE, an innovative SME, and a SRDI (specialized, refined, differentiated, and innovative) SME. Growing from a start-up company to a company serving more than 50 multinational enterprises in more than 10 regions and countries, Hengyan Technology has focused in the field of flexible automation in this warehousing revolution, and is reshaping the ecology of the industry and people's experience.

Talking about the future development of the enterprise, Li Zenglin said that the company would keep increasing investment in R&D to ensure technological edge in the industry. The company is now actively improving the software algorithms, equipment integration, AI visual recognition and other technologies, with the aim to equip the equipment with two eyes and a smart brain as soon as possible, so that operational tasks can be completed more accurately and efficiently.

At present, the business of Hengyan Technology has expanded to cover South China, East China, Central China, North China and Northwest China; the company's next step will be focusing on Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas markets as part of its global development strategy.