Sagawa Express today officially approved onsite operational validation of Dexterity’s dual-armed mobile manipulator Mech in its X Frontier relay center in Tokyo, Japan, after completing rigorous testing. The approval, obtained with the partnership of Sumitomo Corporation, marked the beginning of Mech’s on-site use at Sagawa starting May 2025.
“This isn’t just a milestone for Physical AI and robotics—it’s a turning point for the logistics industry,” said Samir Menon, CEO of Dexterity. “With Mech, we’ve demonstrated progressively complicated, dynamic tasks that AI-powered robots can perform. AI enables robots to perform tasks like truck loading not just at scale and speed, but at enterprise-grade levels of reliability and safety. We’re excited to support Sagawa and Japan’s broader push to transform industrial applications.”
In testing at Dexterity’s facilities, Mech met and exceeded loading quality, speed, and space utilization performance benchmarks defined by Sagawa Express, it said.
Sagawa Express, Sumitomo Corporation, and Dexterity plan to work together to pilot Mech in Japan. The companies have further plans to scale the technology to additional relay centers following operational validation at X Frontier.
Founded in 2017, Dexterity said it uses physical AI to give its full-stack systems human-like dexterity, freeing workers in logistics, warehousing, and supply chain operations from repetitive and strenuous tasks. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company was a 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award honoree for its trailer-unloading system. Earlier this year, Dexterity raised $95 million, bringing its total valuation to $1.65 billion.
If you’re interested in learning more about physical AI, this fall, RoboBusiness will feature the Physical AI Forum. This conference track will delve into the latest trends and technologies around physical AI. It features talks from ABB Robotics, Ambi Robotics, GreyMatter Robotics, and more.
Additionally, Dexerity’s Founding Engineer, Robert Sun, will be speaking in the track. Sun will explore how Dexterity’s Physical AI platform enables warehouse robots to handle complex tasks at scale. The show will take place October 15-16, 2025, at the Santa Clara Convention Center.
Dexterity aims to deploy 1,000 Mech robots over the next few years
Dexterity said this marks the next milestone towards the anticipated use of its Mech mobile manipulator robot. The company originally announced this in its press release with Sagawa in December 2023.
The approval comes at a critical time, Dexterity said. Currently, Japan’s logistics industry faces a looming crisis. New regulations capping truck driver overtime could result in up to one-third of cargo going undelivered by 2030. Mech’s deployment helps address this challenge by automating the stressful and physically demanding truck loading tasks, Dexterity said.
“Dexterity’s unique approach to robotics and enterprise Physical AI ability has shown us great promise that it can meet our strict operational criteria. Mech’s performance shows that it can transform how we manage loading, and we are confident in Dexterity and Sumitomo as partners to deploy and scale this technology in Japan,” Seiichi Watanabe, General Manager of the Transportation Network Department at Sagawa Express, said.
This initiative is spearheaded by Dexterity-SC, the joint venture between Dexterity and Sumitomo Corporation. Together, they plan to deliver over 1,000 Mech robots to Japanese customers within the next few years, with the Sagawa deployment marking the first commercial launch in this broader plan.